Educators in Search of Common-Core Resources

From left: Tamara Reavis, Dan Englender, and Janice Nolan are among the District of Columbia teachers and administrators who meet each month to discuss the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Educators nationwide say they are frustrated by a lack of curriculum materials.

—Andrew Councill for Education Week

By Catherine Gewertz

As states and districts begin the work of turning common academic standards into curriculum and instruction, educators searching for teaching resources are often finding that process frustrating and fruitless.

Teachers and curriculum developers who are trying to craft road maps that reflect the Common Core State Standards can find themselves in a dispiriting bind: Their current materials fall short, and there is a dearth of good new ones to fill the void.

“Teachers are struggling, and very few people are helping. Almost nothing is available for them to use,” said Aaron Grossman, a former 5th and 6th grade teacher in Nevada’s Washoe County district who now works at the...