Curriculum Producers Work to Reflect New Standards

It was a giant wave: Three-quarters of the states adopted a new set of common academic standards in the past six months. As that wave crests, education groups and publishers are preparing to follow with one of their own—curriculum materials that aim to embody the new standards.

An early example comes from the Washington-based advocacy group Common Core , which last week released free online “maps” of the common standards that are intended to serve as a frame upon which teachers can build curriculum and lesson plans. The 2-year-old organization has focused on being a clearinghouse for what it considers high-quality liberal arts curriculum, but the maps mark its first foray into writing its own materials.

In responding to the common standards with instructional materials, Common Core will soon have a lot more company. The major educational publishers are adapting long-standing lines of products to the new set of mathematics and English/language arts expectations. School improvement groups such as America’s Choice are adjusting the curriculum they use. And many who have not yet committed to producing curriculum tools...