Drawing on classroom visits, teacher training observations, and interviews with multiple education stakeholders, this special reporting project by the Hechinger Report and the Education Writers Association succeeds in bringing lofty notions of Common Core implementation down to an easily consumable level. In-depth profiles of seven states—New York, Tennessee, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Colorado, California, and Florida—illustrate key successes and challenges that educators are experiencing, teacher perspectives on the standards themselves, and mounting political pushback at the state level as Common Core–implementation efforts accelerate. In addition to the profiles, the report includes a piece on the rationale behind Common Core, a discussion of how the CCSS compare to international standards, an overview of Common Core math and ELA content and controversies, a video in which David Coleman highlights key instructional shifts, and a state-by-state synopsis of how seven states are navigating the transition to Common Core (whew!). Embedded throughout the profiles and articles is information clarifying frequent misconceptions about Common Core. For example, the report stresses that “the Common Core lays out overarching education principles and specific skills students should master in different grade levels,” but is not a federal or state takeover of curriculum decisions. (For more on Common Core controversies, watch the video of our event on the topic this past week.) This is not to say the report presents its observations of Common Core implementation through overly rosy glasses; rather, it offers a realistic view of educator frustrations and hurdles alongside widespread feelings of optimism and the belief that rigorous, higher standards are the right thing for our students. At the end of the day, as one eighth-grade math teacher in Nashville concludes, “It is about setting high expectations and believing that [the students] can do it.”
SOURCE: The Hechinger Report and Education Writers Association, National Reporting Project on the Common Core (The Hechinger Report, October 2013).
