Five years into the Common Core initiative, researchers and the general public are interested to know whether and how the standards are "working." In this introduction to the special topic, I discuss the state of the literature on these questions and offer suggestions for what I view as the most important work moving forward.

If schools are to prepare students to participate more productively in civic life, schools will need to ensure that they have opportunities to practice the skills of civic reasoning, argues Carol Lee. Yet schools are challenged by the limits in the curriculum and the difficulty of addressing the different types of prior knowledge that students…

Do Americans hold a consistent set of opinions about their public schools and how to improve them? From 2013 to 2018, over 5,000 unique respondents participated in more than one consecutive iteration of the annual, nationally representative "Education Next" poll, offering an opportunity to examine individual-level attitude stability on…

In their article "Beyond the Common Core…," Cassidy, Ortlieb, and Grote-Garcia (2016), express concern that the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS; National Governors Association [NGA] Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers [CCSSO], 2010) may have the "unintended consequence" of diverting…

Students often have the misconception that mathematics involves reading the problem, staring at the page, and then writing down an answer. With more than twenty years of experience working with students in eighth-grade math through college calculus, the author has been increasingly interested in how she can foster problem-solving skills in her…

In the author's large, urban high school, enrollment in a laboratory science is mandatory. While the student participation rate for lab activities is over 98%, the turn-in rate for traditional lab reports averages just 35% to 85%. Those students who don't produce a lab report miss a critical opportunity to improve their skills in scientific…

As schools move into a new era of technology, assessment is evolving as well. With the introduction of high-stakes tests based on the Common Core State Standards, annual assessments are increasingly delivered via computer-based systems. This method of delivery could have a significant effect on students with learning disabilities. This column…

The purpose of this study was to identify and categorize the morphologically complex words in the Kindergarten and First Grade Common Core State Standards English and Language Arts (CCSS ELA) Exemplar Texts. Four text types were analyzed: student-read fiction, student-read informational text, teacher read-aloud fiction, and teacher read-aloud…

The Common Core State Standards in Mathematics outline both the content and practices students must engage in at each grade level to become mathematically proficient. Mathematical processes include problem solving, reasoning and proof, communication, and procedural fluency, which includes flexible thinking. The purpose of this study was to…

Problem solving has long been a priority in mathematics education, and the first Common Core mathematical practice (SMP1) focuses on this priority through the language of "Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them." We present findings from a survey about how prospective elementary teachers' (PTs) make sense of potential…

The construct of academic language--while of great interest, in part, because of recently adopted or revised content and English-language development (ELD) standards that explicitly focus on academic language--and its role in the academic success of all students, including young learners and English learners (ELs), is far from clearly understood.…

Writing and writing clearly is a highly complex activity that requires the coordination of several processes and subprocesses for it to be effective and purposeful. Across those demands, syntax and the ability to express ideas with clarity can significantly affect a writer's ability to communicate (Berninger, Nagy, & Beers, 2011) and the…

Introduction: Performance standards drive current instructional practice. Disability-specific curricula is a critical component in preparing children for postsecondary transition. Currently, no standards govern instruction in orientation and mobility (O&M) skills for children with visual impairments. Standards for O&M would provide…

Instructional technologist plays an important role in K-12 CCSS transition. However, few studies were conducted to explore what roles instructional technologist has played in technology integration during CCSS transition. This study explored the roles of instructional technologists in technology integration. This study also investigated the…

This study concentrated on word problems in Grades Kindergarten-3 and the application of the Standards for Mathematical Practice and the Content Standards. The study also included an analysis of focus, coherence, and rigor in the materials. The textbooks used were among the first editions to be published after the acceptance of the Common Core…