Common Core
Education news, analysis, and opinion about the Common Core State Standards, a set of academic standards for teaching English and mathematics in K-12 schools.
See also: Standards
The Common Core Explained
With all the developments and debate around common standards, here are the resources you'll need to get up to speed.
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
The Testing Tragedy
Marc Tucker discusses the importance of getting testing right now that the number of PARCC and Smarter Balanced states have declined significantly.
Assessment
Video
State Testing Standards: How States Stack Up
Almost 10 years have passed since the Common Core State Standards were developed to provide a single set of challenging academic expectations for all students. Along with these new learning standards, came new assessments. Most states adopted one of two federally funded state tests, though some have dropped them and others have developed their own. Do states now have more challenging assessments that reflect higher learning standards? A new report compares the benchmarks and cut scores for each state test against a national assessment.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Four Dichotomies in Education Worth Interrogating
Language can be limiting; it can also be liberating. With that in mind, I wanted to look at some of ways we categorize people and ideas in education, and how they might represent false dichotomies that need to be opened up.
Standards & Accountability
Louisiana's New Approach to Reading Tests
The proposal draws on arguments that reading tests that focus on applying skills to generic passages disadvantage students who don't have the background knowledge to fully grasp them.
Assessment
What's Wrong With the Common-Core Tests? Maybe Nothing, Analysis Says
The Smarter Balanced group rejects the argument that its test was technically flawed in 2016-17, and produces new data to back its case.
Assessment
Illinois Will Step Back from PARCC Test. Is New Jersey Next?
Only a handful of states will still be offering the test in its entirety after this spring's testing season.
Standards & Accountability
Here's One Way to Dispel Misconceptions About the Common Core
It's possible to use brief texts to correct education policy misconceptions, the study finds.
Standards & Accountability
PARCC Common-Core Test Gets Federal Approval
The new decision by the U.S. Department of Education conveys unconditional approval of the PARCC test as a measurement of Maryland's standards. But that finding doesn't yet apply to its use in other states.
Assessment
Opinion
Try a Simple Speaking Assessment to Close the Semester
Around the end of the semester, I like to use a simple speaking activity that accomplishes several things at once.
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
How Teams Can Work Together to Improve Student Reading
Reading is a skill necessary in pretty much any academic subject, so we all need to teach it. The eye rolls, however, remind us that we can say this all we want, but that doesn't make it clear how we should go about it, especially when content area teachers are struggling with their own content, pacing calendars, and the same staggering diversity of readers that challenge us in the ELA classroom. And that PD in June? It didn't help teachers make actionable plans, and it hasn't been discussed since. I've witnessed a version of this cycle in every school I've taught in.
Standards & Accountability
Illinois Lawmakers Poised to Mandate Cursive Lessons in Schools
After Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill that would require Illinois schools to instruct students in cursive writing, the House voted to override his decision. Now the bill's fate is in the Senate's hands.
School & District Management
Opinion
Has the United States Been 'Sleepwalking Through History' or Not?
Marc Tucker responds to critics of his argument that the U.S. has been sleepwalking in its approach to improving education compared to other countries.
Standards & Accountability
Teachers Say State Standards Are Good for Instruction. But Testing? Not So Much.
About 9 out of 10 math and English/language arts teachers say having state standards is good for classroom instruction, according to a recent survey. But less than one-third of teachers say they support the use of the state tests.
College & Workforce Readiness
New York Has Rewritten the Common Core. Here's What You Need to Know.
A look at what's new in New York's replacement standards, and what led the state to consider an overhaul in the first place.