Common Core State Standards Research Articles

Looking closely and listening carefully: A sociocultural approach to understanding the complexity of Latina/o/x students’ everyday language

ABSTRACTThe definitions of “academic language” available to teachers and teacher educators often invoke generalized assumptions about the supposed gap between complex, discipline-specific forms of language and the everyday language of Latina/o/x students. In this article, we advance an alternative hypothesis – that Latina/o/x students boast expansive linguistic repertoires and engage in complex and sophisticated forms of everyday language, including some that overlap directly with the forms of language and literacy explicitly outlined in official English language arts standards, including the Common Core State Standards. With this as our premise, we draw on a robust theoretical tradition of sociocultural scholarship on language and literacy, as well as on our own ethnographic data, to highlight the complexity of Latina/o/x students’ everyday language practices, and to showcase how these complex language practices overlap with those typically framed as academic. We conclude with practical suggestions for beginning to explore Latina/o/x students’ everyday linguistic complexity.

The Social Side of Educational Policy: How Social Media is Changing the Politics of Education

Social media are online technology platforms that focus on synchronous and asynchronous human interactions with a local and global reach unprecedented in human history. The Internet and its architecture have enabled the development and use of these platforms, which are designed to support social interactions and give rise to a complex interplay between communication, social practices, and technology infrastructure, challenging existing “traditional” media sources. Social media are adding a new ingredient to and level of impact on the educational political and policy-making process that is still in its infancy in terms of research and relevance. In this chapter, we examine the high-level social side of social media (Twitter) in an effort to analyze, visualize, and make sense of the often hidden world of online interactions around educational policy. In addition, we look deeply into the ways in which messages and meaning are crafted in social media space around the Common Core State Standards, with special attention to the role of bots and how influence is wielded. This work offers insights into the what, who, how, and impact of transactions among “socially influential” individuals over time in this new social media/educational policy space and potential impact on educational policy-making and practice.

Strategies to strengthen differentiation within the common core era: drawing on the expertise from those in the field

School reform efforts are reflected in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and increasingly impact potential for differentiation of instruction, which is critical in effectively educating students with varying achievement and learning needs. Although CCSS were developed to establish a ubiquitous foundation of educational expectations by grade level for all students, differentiation has remained an essential philosophy towards instruction of students with various accelerated or adverse impacts on learning. Qualitative analyses of interviews with educators yielded insight into differentiation for students in general education, students with disabilities, and students identified as gifted and talented. Based on these voices, recommendations are offered for ways to understand the CCSS and to achieve progress and favorable change for all stakeholders.

Exploring How Fourth-Grade Emerging Bilinguals Learn to Write Opinion Essays

ABSTRACTThe population of emerging bilinguals (EBs) is rapidly growing across the United States leaving many teachers wondering how best to teach these students to read and write effectively in English. Concurrently, and as a result of the Common Core State Standards, elementary school students are required to produce more sophisticated writing than ever before. For example, all students in Grades K-5 are expected to write an opinion essay that requires an understanding of the topic in order to generate an opinion and the ability to craft evidence to support this opinion. The purpose of this study was to determine how EBs develop as writers of opinion essays. A multiple case study was conducted in a 4th grade English as a Second Language classroom where students (N = 6) were taught to write opinion essays in English. Data sources included interviews, classroom observations, and multiple student writing and work samples that were conducted and collected over the course of six weeks. Three specific categories emerged from the data including: (a) a more knowledgeable other, (b) the need for two-step graphic organizers, and (c) the value of partner talk/collaboration. Implications and recommendations of these findings are provided for both educators and researchers.

Effects of a Mathematical Writing Intervention on Middle School Students’ Performance

The benefits of content writing are widely recognized, yet there are still few studies that evaluate the benefits and challenges of mathematical writing (MW) for students. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics have an emphasis on written communication of mathematical reasoning as an integral part of curriculum, peer-reviewed publications on this topic are lacking. This study evaluates the effects of self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) intervention on sixth-grade students’ MW. Findings indicate that the intervention had significant impact on MW outcomes. Additionally, the five predictors assessed prior to the intervention accounted for approximately 73.6% of variance in MW quality. Implications for the field and future research are discussed.

Literacy Curricula, the Common Core, and Defending an Unpopular Profession: The Lived Experiences of Undergraduate Preservice Literacy Teachers

This study explored the lived experiences of eight pre-service teachers, specifically their understandings of teaching Common Core-aligned English language arts (ELA) and their feelings about becoming teachers of literacy amid the current era of accountability. Phenomenological methods were used to interview participants and analyze data for significant statements made by all eight pre-service teachers involved. Major themes to emerge include that pre-service teachers felt prepared to design ELA lessons but unprepared to develop an ELA curriculum; they felt the Common Core State Standards had changed everything about teaching; and they were anxious about becoming teachers during a time of great educational change. These findings can illuminate some of the tensions, successes, and challenges that pre-service teachers face, and may help teacher educators to tailor instruction to meet the needs of their students at a time when enrollment numbers in teacher education programs are at historic lows.

The Monster in the Classroom: Assessing Language to Inform Instruction

AbstractThe authors describe Monster, P.I., which is an app‐based, gamified assessment that measures language skills (knowledge of morphology, vocabulary, and syntax) of students in grades 5–8 and provides teachers with interpretable score reports to drive instruction that improves vocabulary, reading, and writing ability. Specifically, the authors describe why an assessment of language is important to include, the components of language that are assessed by Monster, P.I., and how Monster, P.I., uses gamification to add enjoyment and motivation to the assessment experience. The authors then explain how to use Monster, P.I., to inform instructional decisions, specifically explaining the overall instructional framework, what each score means, and examples of instruction that link to each area assessed by the app. Links to Common Core State Standards are included. The authors conclude by sharing teachers’ feedback on the assessment and how they used it to support instruction in their classrooms.

Supporting Academic Growth of English Language Learners: Integrating Reading into STEM Curriculum

English Language Learners (ELLs) in the U.S. have recently received growing attention in educational researchbecause of their struggle in academic performance, especially after the launch of the Common Core State Standards(CCSS) and assessments in 2009. Unfortunately, ELL students are required to take these standardized tests inEnglish language regardless of their proficiency level in reading. Despite increased focus and resources ofimplementing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) curriculum in K-12 education, there is a strongevidence that ELL students do not attain commensurate performance when compared to their nativeEnglish-speaking peers. The integration of Art into STEM disciplines has evolved STEM into STEAM. Lately, therehas been much discussion in the educational field that the acronym STEAM should be further evolved into STREAMby integrating Reading. The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of integrating STEM and Readingcurriculum in K-12 education to reduce the achievement gap between ELL and non-ELL students. Practicalclassroom strategies for classroom teaching and instruction are discussed.

Issues in Measuring Opportunity to Learn Academic Language: Social Desirability and Teacher Education Effects

Many assert the importance of academic language (AL) instruction in raising achievement for English learners (EL). The increased academic communication demands of the Common Core State Standards has resulted in greater attention to learning opportunities provided to students in meeting disciplinary learning. Yet, few studies have tested operationalizations of AL to investigate opportunity to learn (OTL) for English language learners. This paper discusses the issues in the measurement of AL instruction using survey instruments in bilingual contexts. Although results suggest our initial attempt to develop a survey scale show items are reliable and exhibits some degree of content validity, latent class analysis revealed that teachers interpreted the items differently depending on their level of education. Responses also appear to be confounded by social desirability evident in the lowest performing classrooms. Implications for the measurement of OTL academic language are discussed.

Framing the Common Core: An Analysis of Four Key Policy Actors

Background/Context In recent years, the American political context has become increasingly divided, as exemplified by the debate over the Common Core State Standards. Initially a bipartisan national venture, the standards became immersed in controversy soon after their introduction in 2010. In the aftermath, a growing body of research has examined the Common Core at the policy level; yet little empirical research has analyzed the public messaging of key interest groups involved in the Common Core debate. Research Design This empirical study draws on frame analysis to unpack the public discourse of four policy actors involved in the debate over the Common Core: the Gates Foundation, Heritage Foundation, National Education Association, and education historian Diane Ravitch. It examines policy documents released by each actor to first understand the central public frames present in their discourse about the standards, then unearth the implicit logics embedded in these frames. Findings/Results Four underlying logics—market, technical, democratic, and pragmatic— emerged from the explicit frames used by the four actors. These logics overlap, some existing on both sides of the debate, with opponents such as Gates and Heritage Foundations often using competing public frames about innovation or freedom, while also drawing on similar implicit market-based assumptions about the purpose of education to inform their arguments for and against Common Core respectively. Conclusions/Recommendations These findings suggest intriguing similarities in the discourse of key actors involved in education reform and add nuance to growing fears that market-based logics dominate modern education policy. Yet some of the discourse still draws on democratic logics, the expressions of which between different actors. Methodologically, frame analysis emerges as a productive means of unpacking hidden or obscured ideas within policy and the discourse about that policy, especially when paired with the concept of logics, which mediate values and action.

The changing ecology of the curriculum marketplace in the era of the Common Core State Standards

This manuscript explores how the changing policy context of common standards may have influenced the provision of curriculum materials in the United States. Many educational reforms do little to change the nature of classroom instruction, and prior research has argued that this constancy is, at least in part, due to the common use of instructional materials from a small set of large publishing companies (Rowan in J Educ Change 3(3–4):283–314, 2002). However, common standards have been in place in many states since 2010, creating the potential for states to create and share curricular materials with each other, as well as for new organizations to enter the curriculum marketplace. Instructional materials provide a direct link to the instructional core, and recent research demonstrates that individual teachers, schools, and districts are increasingly selecting instructional materials from a variety of online sources, including databases of open educational resources and open-access, yearlong curricula. These materials are created, curated, and/or disseminated by state education agencies, nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, and education employees. In this essay, we describe this new context and provide several cases of the shifting landscape of supply and demand related to curriculum materials. Various configurations of organizations are taking innovative approaches to providing curriculum materials in the context of the Common Core State Standards, as well as to influencing the materials school systems adopt. Finally, we discuss the implications of this backdrop for curriculum policy and practice.

Exploring the use of network meta-analysis in education: examining the correlation between ORF and text complexity measures.

Calls for empirical investigations of the Common Core standards (CCSSs) for English Language Arts have been widespread, particularly in the area of text complexity in the primary grades (e.g., Hiebert & Mesmer Educational Research, 42(1), 44-51, 2013). The CCSSs mention that qualitative methods (such as Fountas and Pinnell) and quantitative methods (such as Lexiles) can be used to gauge text complexity (CCSS Initiative, 2010). However, researchers have questioned the validity of these tools for several decades (e.g., Hiebert & Pearson, 2010). In an effort to establish criterion validity of these tools, individual studies have compared how well they correlate with actual student reading performance measures, most commonly reading comprehension and/or oral-reading fluency (ORF). ORF is a key aspect of reading success and as such is often used for progress monitoring purposes. However, to date, studies have not been able to evaluate different text complexity tools and relation to reading outcomes across studies. This is challenging because the pair-wise meta-analytic model is not able to synthesize several independent variables that differ both within and across studies. Therefore, it is unable to answer pressing research questions in education, such as, which text complexity tool is most correlated with student ORF (and, thus, a good measure of text difficulty)? This question is timely given that the Common Core State Standards explicitly mention various text complexity tools; yet, the validity of such tools has been repeatedly questioned by researchers. This article provides preliminary evidence to answer that question using an approach borrowed from the field of medicine-Network Meta-Analysis (NMA; Lumley Statistics in Medicine, 21, 2313-2324, 2002). A systematic search yielded 5 studies using 19 different text complexity tools with ORF as the reading outcome measured. Both a frequentist and Bayesian NMA were conducted to pool the correlations of a given text complexity tool with students' ORF. While the results differed slightly across the two approaches, there is preliminary evidence in support of the hypothesis that text complexity tools which incorporate more fine-grained sub-lexical variables were more strongly correlated with student outcomes. While the results of this example cannot be generalized due to the low sample size, this article shows how NMA is a promising new analytic tool for synthesizing educational research.

“Signifying Nothing”: Identifying Conceptions of Youth Civic Identity in the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards and the National Assessment of Educational Progress’ Reading Framework

Author(s): Garcia, Antero; Mirra, Nicole | Abstract: This manuscript examines how national reading policies in the United States shape specific kinds of civic identities for K–12 students. We engage in a thematic discourse analysis of two contemporary national policy documents—the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading Framework—to understand the ways citizenship is defined and constructed at the national level. By reading these documents for how they conceptualize civic-based educational outcomes, we interrogate the disconnects between this language and the civic contexts—and potential outlets for civic action—that young people are navigating in the United States today. We examine how seemingly benign policy documents define citizenship in increasingly narrow visions of individualist passivity, and how such definitions run counter to the expansive visions necessary to honor the lived experiences of young citizens of color. Our analysis highlights how these policy documents structure literacy practices, including the variety of texts that students encounter, opportunities to analyze those texts, and specific forms of engagement with media and messages found in society, in ways that stymie a Freirian reading of the word and the world. Ultimately, we suggest how educators might work within the limited pedagogical spaces of these policies toward liberatory ends.

The Function of Quasi-Public Intellectuals in the Manipulation of Publics

Analyzing the function of quasi-public intellectuals in debates over the Common Core State Standards helps us to understand why some publics in a networked public sphere have greater influence in policy-making than other publics. Granted authority because of privileged access to the state, quasi-public intellectuals introduced discourse into education publics that influenced reception of the Common Core, divided potential (counter)publics, and created an exigency that foreclosed possibilities for debating policy alternatives. Theorizing how these intellectuals manipulate debate allows us to recognize other arenas in which they operate and to develop strategies for inviting stakeholders to meaningfully participate in public deliberation.

Teaching Students to Write Opinion Pieces Using a Dialogic Approach

AbstractAre you looking for ways to enhance and strengthen how you teach your students to write effective opinion pieces as outlined in the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards? In this teaching tip, the authors describe an innovative and dialogic approach that elementary school teachers can use and adapt as needed to strengthen students’ reading, writing, speaking, and listening abilities while teaching them to write opinion pieces effectively.

Crossing the Final Frontier: Exploring the Numeracy Demands of Texts Read in English Language Arts

Incited by the National Assessment of Educational Progress’ 2009 Reading Framework and the Common Core State Standards, recent shifts in national education goals have urged English language arts teachers to make curriculum adjustments. One such adjustment is to shift their focus from fiction, which has traditionally dominated the curriculum, to nonfiction. Doing so has the potential to increase students’ exposure to informational texts which often employ numeric modes to represent quantitative data, thus necessitating numeracy knowledge. This article presents a study of 60 nonfiction texts taught in secondary ELA classrooms. Through analysis of these texts, it addresses the questions: Which nonfiction texts are ELA teachers assigning to their students? and What are the numeracy demands of these texts? Findings reveal not only the important role that mathematical representations play in the nonfiction texts students read in their English language arts classes but also implications for English language arts research and instruction.

Research Commentary: Unpacking the Links Between Equitable Teaching Practices and Standards for Mathematical Practice: Equity for Whom and Under What Conditions?

In their commentary, “Toward a Framework for Research Linking Equitable Teaching with the Standards for Mathematical Practice,” Bartell et al. (2017) provide a stepping-stone into the challenge of clarifying the interface between equity and standards setting in mathematics education by devising a framework that relates the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics to an explicit articulation of equitable teaching practices. In this commentary, we respond to this proposed framework and aim to clarify some key elements. Furthermore, we draw on our own positionings and scholarly interests to critique and bolster the framework by focusing on the tensions related to co-opting the Common Core for equity-oriented purposes, the framework's relationship to neoliberalism, and the role of racialized rhetoric and nondominant family and community knowledge.

Analysis and implication of the Domestic and Foreign Status on the Quality Standards of Gifted Education

본 연구는 영재교육의 선도국가인 미국과 영국을 중심으로 영재교육 질 기준에 관한 외국 현황과 시사점 분석을 목적으로 한다. 연구결과, 질 기준의 변화에 따른 국외 영재교육 질 기준의 현황을 도출하였다. 미국의 오랜 영재교육 역사 속에서 질 기준에 입각한 핵심공통 교육과정(The Common Core State Standards: CCSS)도입에 따른 변화의 모습을 탐색하였고, 영국 영재교육에서는 기관 질 기준(The Institutional Quality Standards:IQS), 교실 질 기준(The Classroom Quality Standards: CQS), 교육청 질 기준(The Authority Quality Standards: LAQS) 이라는 세 가지 국가 질 관리가 있음을 파악하고 해당 내용을 분석하였다. 이 외에 네덜란드, 웨일스, 사우디아라비아, 뉴질랜드의 질 기준 현황도 추가적으로 분석하였다. 이와 함께, 국외 영재교육 질기준에 대한 비교분석을 통하여 우리나라 영재교육에 주는 시사점을 추출하였다. 이러한 분석을 통하여 영재교 육 핵심 목적에 대한 이해관계자들의 철학적 합의와 다양한 계층(layer)에서의 적용성에 대한 고민, 그리고 영재교육과정이 각 과목의 특성 및 학습자에 따라 적절한 수준(levels)으로 반영되어야 함을 제시하였다. 이러한 세 가지 시사점을 바탕으로 개인의 역량에 한정한 평가 및 개선 도구로서의 질 기준에서 머물기보다 영재교육시스템 맥락에서 질 기준에 대한 보다 사용자 중심의 평가모형이 제시되어야 할 것이다. 본 연구는 국외 영재교육의 질 기준을 통하여 국내 영재교육의 질 기준 제고에 긍정적 효과를 가져오기 위한 몇 가지 현실적 제언을 제시한다.The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the present-day state and talking points of the quality of gifted education based on two of the leading countries on gifted education, the US and the UK. First, the present status of the quality standards of the gifted education is derived from the changes in the overseas quality standards. We explored how The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) of the US, and government-managed standards, The Institutional Quality Standards (IQS), The Classroom Quality Standards (CQS), and The Authority Quality Standards (LAQS), of the UK affected the gifted education scene of each county. In addition, quality standards of Netherland, Wales, Saudi Arabia, and New Zealand were analyzed. Second, we extracted the implications for our gifted education through comparative analysis of gifted education quality standards The result of analysis emphasizes the importance of applicability of gifted education on various layers based on the philosophical consensus, and appropriateness of the gifted education based on the level of learner and the subject. This study suggests some practical suggestions for positive effects of the quality standards of gifted education in Korea through the quality standards of gifted education abroad.

Using the Smarter Balanced grade 11 summative assessment in college writing placement

Abstract The Smarter Balanced grade 11 summative assessment is a career and college readiness assessment aligned with the Common Core State Standards. In addition to its use as a measure in the high school, over 200 colleges and universities in 10 states use the results of this assessment as part of a multiple measures approach for placement in writing and mathematics. Our focus in this review is on the assessment’s use in college and university writing placement. We discuss the writing constructs made evident in the assessment in addition to what is not measured in order to identify the possibilities and limitations of its use in college writing placement. We offer suggestions for future research into the consequential validity of the assessment.

“I like […] different time periods:” elementary teachers’ uses of historical fiction

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how and why teachers use historical fiction in their classroom (e.g. selection and instruction) through the lenses of their pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1986) and pedagogical tools (Grossman et al., 1999).Design/methodology/approachThe authors explored the following questions: In what ways do elementary school teachers, more specifically fifth grade teachers responsible for early US history as part of their social studies curriculum, use historical fiction in their classrooms? and What factors do elementary school teachers consider when they select historical fiction to use in their classrooms? In order to explore these questions, the authors interviewed eight fifth grade teachers. The authors describe the ways in which these teachers use historical fiction as part of their social studies instruction by employing collective case study (Stake, 1994).FindingsThis study has reified this notion that historical fiction is widely used by fifth grade teachers. The authors identified that these teachers are choosing texts that allow them to integrate their language arts and social studies instruction in effective and engaging ways. Many participants described choosing the texts purposefully to address social studies standards during their language arts time. Despite many of these teachers using prescribed curricula for language arts instruction and following state standards for social studies, the teachers in this study felt free to make curricular decisions related to integration. Most importantly, when given this freedom, they chose to integrate purposefully with quality texts.Research limitations/implicationsThe primary limitation of this research study is the small sample size (n=8). However among the eight teacher participants, there are two states are represented, varied teaching contexts (e.g. departmentalized, self-contained classrooms), and many years of classroom social studies teaching experience.Originality/valueThe Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS) (Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association, 2010) have prompted teachers to present both informational text and literature in equal balance in upper elementary grades. Little research has been done in the last decade about the ways in which historical fiction addresses these standards.