In this technical report, we present the results of a 2020-2021 study of the alignment between the easyCBM© mathematics and literacy assessments and the content standards adopted in the fifty U.S. states. The study used a three-wave process. First, a team of researchers gathered the status of state standard information for mathematics and English…

Current state standards set an ambitious vision for English language arts (ELA) and demand much of teachers: They are expected to engage students in close readings of complex, grade-level texts, which in turn requires students to comprehend texts, follow authors' development of ideas, interpret words and phrases, and analyze structure. Yet most…

As the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is implemented, states are evaluating their accountability systems to gauge these systems' alignment with ESSA stipulations. The implementation of ESSA provides states with opportunities to change the compositions of their accountability systems and to select indicators that are aligned with their visions…

After the Spring 2014 primaries, the Common Core State Standards were viewed as a political hot potato. As former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said, "the Common Core has become toxic, I think it's radioactive…It has become an incredibly controversial topic on both the left and the right." Even so, the Common Core turned out to play a…

This exploratory study investigated the use of concepts related to families, parents, and the home in 51 state-level early learning and development standards documents. Guidelines from six national family involvement, engagement, and school-partnership models were used to create the Family Involvement Models Analysis Chart (FIMAC), which served as…

In this commentary, the author uses New Literacy Studies theories to examine the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI). Through analysis and critique of the CCSSI and related reform efforts underway in the United States, the author discusses how policy mandates can and have resulted in paradoxes. Corporate discourses of effectiveness and…

Not long ago, the author had the wonderful opportunity to visit schools in China and speak to Chinese educators. Everywhere she went, teachers and administrators asked her the same question: How can we help our students become more flexible, creative thinkers? She was struck by the contrast between these conversations and the ones she most often…

In 2004 the General Assembly of the State of Ohio (USA) enacted Senate Bill 2, which created the Educator Standards Board "to develop and recommend to the state board of education standards for entering and continuing in the teaching and principalship professions". Since that time the Ohio Department of Education has established a…

In this article, I first take on the issue of standards and the degree to which they do or do not contribute to the improvement of language and literacy outcomes for children in multilingual societies. Then I consider the relation of standards to language and, finally, raise the vexed issue of content knowledge and its relation to standards, on…

The common standards are not just for public schools. With all but four states having adopted them since 2010, districts have little choice but to implement the Common Core State Standards. But many private schools are also making the transition. Many Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and other private schools have adopted at least portions of the…

For many school districts in the United States, making the transition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is proving to be a challenge at a time when they are already facing many obstacles, not the least of which is dwindling financial resources. A change of this magnitude cannot be made haphazardly; to be successful in its goal of helping…

This article provides an overview of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium's (NASDCTEc) Common Career Technical Core (CCTC), a state-led initiative that was created to ensure that career and technical education (CTE) programs are consistent and high quality across the United States. Forty-two states,…

Although the education community has identified numerous effective interventions for improving the literacy of U.S. schoolchildren, little headway has been made in raising literacy capabilities. David K. Cohen and Monica P. Bhatt, of the University of Michigan, contend that a major obstacle is the organizational structure of the U.S. education…

A short 27 months ago, two groups of U.S. states were each awarded more than $175 million to design, develop, and pilot test a new generation of assessments (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). These new tests will replace assessments in English language arts and mathematics that are currently in use within state and federal accountability…

By agreement, states that have adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) accept them as representing 85 percent of the total number of the standards in a subject area, meaning states have the option to identify as much as 15 percent in additional standards. Those that elect to add standards may find opportunities and hazards at each…