The implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010) has the potential to move forward key features of standards-based reforms in mathematics that have been promoted in the United States for more than 2 decades (e.g.,…

Sustaining engagement with a mathematics task is not a novel suggestion for effective mathematics teaching. "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" (2000) specified that "students need to know that a challenging problem will take some time and that perseverance is an important aspect of the problem-solving process and of…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS; National Governors Association [NGA] Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers [CCSSO], 2010) are "hot," and authors Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey think that is the way they should be. In this article they explain why they think that it is worth the time to focus on the…

This article describes a strategy that emphasizes the integration of all language and literacy skills for learning across content areas as well as the importance CCSS place on learners' ability to ask questions about information, phenomena, or ideas encountered (Ciardiello, 2012/2013). FIVES is a strategy that meaningfully integrates…

In this article the authors present the concept of Coding Literacy and describe the ways in which coding apps can support the development of Coding Literacy and disciplinary and digital literacy skills. Through detailed examples, we describe how coding apps can be integrated into literacy instruction to support learning of the Common Core English…

One reaction to the Common Core State Standards is a new emphasis on "close reading," an approach to teaching comprehension that requires students to extract meaning from text by examining how language is used in a passage. The intent is to strengthen their ability to learn from complex text independently and thus enhance college and…

The authors have worked with teachers across the country as they have exposed social studies students to primary source texts only to find consistent challenges with: (1) Academic language gaps (lack of content knowledge to contextualize or interpret texts); (2) Comprehension gaps (inability to accurately derive meaning from text); (3) Inaccurate…

This basic qualitative study sought to understand why and how homeschooling parents make the decision using the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as curriculum guidelines for their children. Specific areas explored by this research consisted of how homeschooling parents align their curriculum to the CCSS and whether or not the CCSS has influenced…

Examining largely unknown revisions of the New Criticisms reading pedagogy, the author argues that these revisions should serve as a model of how the Common Core ELA Standards might be revised to reconnect readers to the process of reading.

This article examines the journey of museum educators at the Chicago History Museum in understanding the Common Core State Standards and implementing them in our work with the school audience. The process raised questions about our teaching philosophy and our responsibility to our audience. Working with colleagues inside and outside of our…

How do we prepare students to become problem-finders, innovators, and entrepreneurs who can thrive in a global society? The Common Core charts a pathway to success, yet we know that checking off each standard one by one will not achieve the kind of results we want. This powerful book by bestselling author Nancy Sulla has the answers. She explains…

Today, in conjunction with the Alliance for Childhood, we are thrilled to release our new report "Reading Instruction in Kindergarten: Little to Gain and Much to Lose." In the report we concluded that Common Core reading requirements for kindergarten are inappropriate and not well-grounded in research. Under Common Core, students are…

Science Olympiad (SO) is a national non-profit organization which holds science competitions for students in grades 7-12 within 50 states with each event aligned to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2010). The purpose of this article is not only to align the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM) with Science Olympiad events,…

The Common Core has emphasized reading for comprehension, including making inferences. However, little is known about the textual demands found within assessment and instructional passages that are promoted as being in line with Common Core expectations. The purpose of this content analysis was to identify the readability levels, passage length,…

Building physical models is a natural activity for children and provides a context for lessons on two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) shapes. However, children do not think of their models as prisms, cylinders, and pyramids. Their creations are spaceships, tunnels, castles, and nets on the floor. Creating these types of shapes with…