In addition to being one of the authors of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), David Coleman has become the Standards' "most visible advocate" (Smith, Appleman, & Wilhelm, 2014, p. 10) and one of their "most prominent and articulate promoters" (Rabinowitz & Bancroft, 2014, p. 4). In a talk titled "Bringing the Common Core to Life," delivered to the New York State Department of Education, Coleman (2011) moves beyond promoting the CCSS to explaining and modeling his vision of "what we must do" (p. 16) when teaching complex, informational texts. This article illuminates the regressive nature of Coleman's pedagogical prescriptions by juxtaposing them with the more progressive approaches to literary education proposed by John Dewey and by referring to research that demonstrates the deleterious effects of the strategies Coleman advocates.