The Common Core State Standards Initiative, also known as simply Common Core, was an American, multi-state educational initiative which began in 2008 with the goal of increasing consistency across state ELA and Math standards, or what K–12 students throughout the United States should know in English language arts and mathematics at the conclusion of each school grade. The initiative was sponsored by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.
Background In the 1990s, a movement began in the U.S. to establish national educational standards for students across the country.
(a) outlining what students were expected to know and do at each grade level (b) implementing ways to find out if they were meeting those standards. This movement culminated in the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2002 which required states articulate ELA and math standards at each level. For some states, this required writing new standards. For others, it meant breaking down existing grade-band standards into grade by grade expectations.
Development In late 2008, the NGA convened a group to work on developing the standards. This team included David Coleman, William McCallum of the University of Arizona, Phil Daro, Douglas Clements and Student Achievement Partners founders Jason ZimbaHess, Frederick (February 28, 2013). Straight Up Conversation: Common Core Guru Jason Zimba. Education Next. and Susan Pimentel to write standards in the areas of English, language arts, and mathematics. Announced on June 1, 2009, the initiative's stated purpose was to "provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them". Additionally, "The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers", which should place American students in a position in which they can compete in a global economy.
Work groups composed of representatives from higher education, K-12 education, teachers, and researchers drafted the Common Core State Standards. The work groups consulted educators, administrators, community and parent organizations, higher education representatives, the business community, researchers, civil rights groups, and states for feedback on each of the drafts.
The standards were copyrighted by NGA Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the CCSSO, which controls use of and licenses the standards.Common Core State Standards Initiative | Terms of Use. Common Core State Standards Initiative. Retrieved July 19, 2013. The NGA Center and CCSSO do this by offering a public license which is used by State Departments of Education.Common Core State Standards Initiative | Public License. Common Core State Standards Initiative. Retrieved July 19, 2013. The license states that use of the standards must be "in support" of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. It also requires attribution and a copyright notice, except when a state or territory has adopted the standards "in whole".
When the CCSS was originally published, there was no intention to publish a common set of standards for English language proficiency development (ELPD). Instead, it was indicated that the ELPD standards would be left to individual states. However, the need for more guidance quickly became apparent, and led to the creation of several initiatives to provide resources to states and educators, including WIDA, which is a consortium that produces standardized tests aimed at English Language Learners (ELLs), more properly known as English as an Additional Language (EAL) students, that is used in multiple states. It is still updating its standards in order to align with CCSS. An English language proficiency development framework from The Council of Chief State School Officers, which assists states in revising their ELPD standards to align to both the CSS and Next Generation Science Standards. Both the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) and the TESOL International Association are involved in establishing the standards for ESL instruction, but as of yet there is not a standardized set of qualifications across the country for ESL instruction. The U.S. Department of Education has since funded two grants to develop the next generation of ELPD assessments, which must measure students’ proficiency against a set of common ELPD standards, which in turn correspond to the college/career-ready standards in English, language arts, and mathematics. The new assessment system must also:
Be based on a common definition of English language learner adopted by all consortium states. Include diagnostic (e.g., screener, placement) and summative assessments. Assess English language proficiency across the four language domains (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) for each grade level from kindergarten through grade 12. Produce results that indicate whether individual students have attained a level and complexity of English language proficiency that is necessary to fully participate in academic instruction in English. Be accessible to all ELLs, except those who are eligible for alternate assessments based on alternate academic standards. Use technology to the maximum extent appropriate to develop, administer, and score assessments.
Adoption
Forty-six states and the District of Columbia initially joined the Common Core State Standards Initiative; Texas, Virginia, Alaska, and Nebraska did not. Minnesota adopted the English Language Arts standards but not the Mathematics standards."Why Did Minnesota Skip the Math Common Core Standards?". Minnesota Public Radio News. June 12, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2013. Following pushback and reductions in financial support, the project lost momentum and at least 12 states introduced legislation to prohibit implementation. Eventually, multiple states that initially adopted the Common Core Standards, such as Indiana, Arizona, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Florida, decided to repeal or replace them. New York State would eventually replace their version of the Common Core Standards with The Next Generation Learning Standards.
Standards were released for mathematics and English language arts on June 2, 2010, with a majority of states adopting the standards in the subsequent months. States were given an incentive to adopt the Common Core Standards through the possibility of competitive federal Race to the Top grants. U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the Race to the Top competitive grants on July 24, 2009, as a motivator for education reform. To be eligible, states had to adopt "internationally benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the work place." Though states could adopt other college- and career-ready standards and still be eligible, they were awarded extra points in their Race to the Top applications if they adopted the Common Core standards by August 2, 2010. Forty-one states made the promise in their application. Virginia and Texas were two states that chose to write their own college and career-ready standards, and were subsequently eligible for Race to the Top. Development of the Common Core Standards was funded by the governors and state schools chiefs, with additional support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Pearson Publishing Company, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and others.
The Every Student Succeeds Act, passed in December 2015, replaced No Child Left Behind Act, and prohibited the Department of Education from attempting to "influence, incentivize, or coerce State adoption of the Common Core State Standards ... or any other academic standards common to a significant number of States."
Other content areas adopted a national approach to learning standards, such as the Next Generation Science Standards, released in April 2012 and were subsequently adopted by many states. They are not directly related to the Common Core standards, but their content can be cross-connected to the Common Core mathematical and English Language Arts standards.
English Language Arts standards The stated goal of the English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects standards is to ensure that students are college and career ready in literacy no later than the end of high school. There are five key components to the standards for English and Language Arts: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language, and Media and Technology. The essential components and breakdown of each of these key points within the standards are as follows:
Reading As students advance through each grade, there is an increased level of complexity to what students are expected to read and there is also a progressive development of reading comprehension so that students can gain more from what they read. Teachers, school districts, and states are expected to decide on the appropriate curriculum, but sample texts are included. Molly Walsh of Burlington Free Press notes an appendix (of state standards for reading material) that lists "exemplar texts" from works by noted authors such as Ovid, Voltaire, William Shakespeare, Ivan Turgenev, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Frost, W. B. Yeats, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the more contemporary, including, Amy Tan, Atul Gawande and Julia Alvarez. There is some critical content for all students classic myths and stories from around the world, foundational U.S. documents, seminal works of American literature, and the writings of Shakespeare but the rest is left up to the states and the districts. Standards for Reading Foundational Skills are described for kindergarten to grade five. They include the areas of print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency. Specific teaching suggestions and research are contained in the Appendices, where “phonics” is referred to as “Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondences”.
Writing The driving force of the writing standards is logical arguments based on claims, solid reasoning, and relevant evidence. The writing also includes opinion writing even within the K–5 standards. Short, focused research projects, similar to the kind of projects students will face in their careers, as well as long-term, in-depth research is another piece of the writing standards. This is because written analysis and the presentation of significant findings are critical to career and college readiness. The standards also include annotated samples of student writing to help determine performance levels in writing arguments, explanatory texts, and narratives across the grades.
Speaking and listening Although reading and writing are the expected components of an English language arts curriculum, standards are written so that students gain, evaluate, and present complex information, ideas, and evidence specifically through listening and speaking. There is also an emphasis on academic discussion in one-on-one, small-group, and whole-class settings, which can take place as formal presentations or informal discussions during student collaboration.
Language Vocabulary instruction in the standards takes place through a mix of conversations, direct instruction, and reading so that students can determine word meanings and can expand their use of words and phrases. The standards expect students to use formal English in their writing and speaking, but also recognize that colleges and 21st-century careers will require students to make wise, skilled decisions about how to express themselves through language in a variety of contexts. Vocabulary and conventions are their own strand because these skills extend across reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Media and technology