How the Common Core standardizes our kids’ education—and how it threatens our democracy. The Common Core State Standards Initiative is one of the most controversial pieces of education policy to emerge in decades. Detailing what and when K–12 students should be taught, it has led to expensive reforms and displaced other valuable ways to educate children. In this nuanced and provocative book, Nicholas Tampio argues that, though national standards can raise the education bar for some students, the democratic costs outweigh the benefits. To make his case, Tampio describes the history, philosophy, content, and controversy surrounding the Common Core standards for English language arts and math. He also explains and critiques the Next Generation Science Standards, the Advanced Placement US History curriculum framework, and the National Sexuality Education Standards. Though each set of standards has admirable elements, Tampio asserts that democracies should disperse education authority rather than entrust one political or pedagogical faction to decide the country’s entire philosophy of education. Ultimately, this lively and accessible book presents a compelling case that the greater threat to democratic education comes from centralized government control rather than from local education authorities.

Discover how to weave an in-depth understanding of the Common Core into successful classroom practice with this two-part resource. You’ll learn how to power the standards with guided assessment and measure student progress in a way that accurately reflects learning. Included are hundreds of ready-to-use, research-based proficiency scales for both English language arts and mathematics.

The quality of instruction is the most important factor in helping students meet the Common Core Standards. That's why Owocki's "Common Core Lesson Book" empowers teachers with a comprehensive framework for implementation that enhances existing curriculum and extends it to meet Common Core goals.

If you're a high school teacher, no need to despair. Jim Burke has created a Common Core Companion for you, too, as your one-stop guide across subjects.

Lucy Calkins and her colleagues at the Reading and Writing Project have helped thousands of educators design their own pathways to the Common Core. Now, with Pathways to the Common Core, they are ready to help you find your way. Designed for teachers, school leaders, and professional learning communities looking to navigate the gap between their current literacy practices and the ideals of the Common Core, Pathways to the Common Core will help you: understand what the standards say, suggest, and what they don't say; recognize the guiding principles that underpin the reading and writing standards; identify how the Common Core's infrastructure supports a spiraling K-12 literacy curriculum; and scrutinize the context in which the CCSS were written and are being unrolled. In addition to offering an analytical study of the standards, this guide will also help you and your colleagues implement the standards in ways that lift the level of teaching and learning throughout your school.--

This book guides teachers in grades 6-12 to strategically combine a variety of texts--including literature, informational texts, and digital sources--to meet their content-area goals and the demands of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). It presents clear-cut ways to analyze text complexity, design challenging text sets, and help students get the most out of what they read. Provided are practical instructional ideas for building background knowledge, promoting engagement, incorporating discussion and text-based writing, and teaching research skills. Appendices offer sample unit plans for English language arts, history/social studies, and science classrooms. More than 20 reproducible coaching templates and other tools can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.