Many social studies teachers are nervous about the coming of Common Core State Standards. With so much emphasis placed on literacy, social studies teachers fear they will see content slashed to leave time for meeting English's non-fiction standards. Already reeling from a lack of attention from the benchmarks put in place by No Child Left Behind,…

Even as the Common Core State Standards are being put into practice across most of the country, nearly half of teachers feel unprepared to teach them, especially to disadvantaged students, according to a new survey. The study by the EPE Research Center found deep wells of concern among teachers about their readiness to meet the challenges posed by…

Returning from spring vacation, Dowan McNair-Lee's students find their desks in neat rows, facing forward. For the previous seven months, the 8th graders had sat in clusters, facing one another, to facilitate discussion. But janitors used the break to ready the classroom for the year-end tests that are only two weeks away. The new arrangement is…

This module examines Rigor, the third of the three shifts required for implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). This module is based on the premise that the information from Modules 1 and 2 is well understood. Course Objectives: By the end of the module, the learner will be able to: (1) identify the components of…

In this article, David Conley focuses on how to assess meaningful learning in ways that promote student achievement while simultaneously meeting system accountability needs. The article draws upon research that supports the notion that a major shift in educational assessment is needed in order to encourage and evaluate the kind of learning that…

This case provides principals and principal licensure candidates an opportunity to delve into the nuances of supervising teachers in content areas, which may be unfamiliar, and to explore strategies for increasing knowledge about the structures and emphases of the "Common Core State Standards" (CCSS). The case presents issues related to…

Using a case study design, our research explored question generation as a reading comprehension strategy, focusing on the types of questions 4th- and 5th-grade students posed before, during, and after reading narrative text. The authors aimed to determine whether their participants are ready to pose the higher-level questions expected of them by…

Common situations, like planning air travel, can become grist for mathematical modeling and can promote the mathematical ideas of variables, formulas, algebraic expressions, functions, and statistics. The purpose of this article is to illustrate how the mathematical modeling that is present in everyday situations can be naturally embedded in…

To improve mathematics achievement of U.S. students and to assure that "what and how students are taught should reflect not only the topics within a certain academic discipline, but also the key ideas that determine how knowledge is organized and generated within that discipline" are dual goals of the Common Core State Standards for…

This study provides a first look at how student college- and career-readiness have progressed in the early years of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) implementation. It is motivated by concern that changes triggered by the standards transition might be disruptive to student learning in the short run, even when those changes may become…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 offers a number of opportunities for states and districts to advance deeper learning and ensure that all students graduate from high school with the ability to think critically, solve complex problems, collaborate with peers, communicate effectively, and be self-directed. Deeper learning is the…

In this article we identify opportunities for students to use timelines and textbooks to meet standards. Through the use of timelines, textbooks, and selected activities, upper elementary and middle school students are able to (1) be engaged in content area reading and writings; (2) understand large themes in social studies including time,…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) of 2010 represent a new chapter in the 25-year history of standards-based reforms (SBR). The CCSS attempts to bring the system back to the principles of its founding--more rigorous, focused, academic content and performance expectations collectively embraced by the nation. The new standards depart…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were published by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association in 2010 as part of a widespread standards-based reform movement in the United States. The education marketplace has responded with CCSS-aligned products, including standardised tests, professional development…

In a climate of high stakes testing in education in America physical education is an oft-overlooked content area. As physical educators, however, we know the value that we have in the educational lives of our students. Instruction in our content area is engaging and immediately applicable to the "real world." The skills and concepts that…