In this paper, we discuss the design and development of an eBook titled "Building Democracy for All: Interactive Explorations of Government and Civic Life," which serves as an open educational resource for the eighth-grade Massachusetts social studies curriculum standards. This design case offers an example of an interactive,…

There are at least four key places where the Common Core intersects with current efforts to improve education in the United States--testing, professional development, expectations, and accountability. Understanding them can help educators, parents, and policymakers maximize the chance that the Common Core is helpful to these efforts and, perhaps…

New York is ahead of most states in its work to design detailed curricula and professional development for the common core and to build brand-new tests to reflect them. What's unfolding in the Empire State as a result of that work illustrates the way the common standards can pressure changes in the education landscape, and torque the tensions…

A survey administered in the spring of 2013 by the Center on Education Policy (CEP) inquired into the implementation of Common Core State Standards at that time. Based on self-reports by state officials, the survey found that curricula aligned to the common core were already being taught in at least some districts or grade levels. All states…

The following profiles address how the state departments of education are supporting local educators in classroom implementation of the Common Core by providing and/or facilitating the development of instructional resources and materials aligned to the new standards. In order for instructional resources and materials to be aligned to the Common…

In June 2010, the National Governor's Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers published "Common Core State Standards" (CCSS) for K-12 mathematics. Forty-eight states collaborated in the development of CCSS and, to date, 34 states have officially adopted CCSS to replace existing state standards. CCSS presents an opportunity for…

With increased emphasis on state standards and assessments in science, one might question whether there is still a role for national science standards and benchmarks. This article makes a case for the importance of national guidelines and identifies key functions performed by the National Research Council's "National Science Education Standards"…

A study was conducted to develop a set of instructor standards that describe high-quality teaching behavior for adult literacy teachers, program administrators, state staff, and stakeholders. The standards were created by a task force of 15 experienced adult literacy practitioners and reviewed and revised by focus groups of practitioners at seven…

This report summarizes, and gives a full report, of a feasibility study involving a discussion of problems and issues related to occupational and professional regulation that took place during four regional conferences attended by nearly 100 officials from 30 states. Participants included state legislators, licensing administrators, attorneys…

A project was undertaken to evaluate and revise Florida's existing instructional materials for use in courses in heavy duty truck and bus mechanics. The tasks addressed in the currently available student guides were compared to the state program standards. After identifying tasks that were implied in the state standards but not covered in the…

The Florida State Advisory Council on Vocational and Technical Education, in preparing its annual evaluation report, found that the State's total program of vocational and technical education has continued to grow at a rapid rate in number of programs and number of persons served. The three goal areas of the evaluation were: (1) focus on the…