Vision Meets Reality
The Common Core in Action
April 23, 2014
The Common Core State Standards have been reshaping the American education landscape for four years, leaving their mark on curriculum and instruction, professional development, teacher evaluation, the business of publishing, and the way tests are designed. In this special report, Education Week explores how the initial vision for the standards—and for aligned assessments—is now bumping up against reality in states, school districts, and local communities.
- Standards & Accountability Common-Assessment Accommodations: A ComparisonThe two main assessment consortia have much in common concerning the types of accommodations and tools for testing special populations, but they part company on some key issues.Special Education Alternative-Assessment Groups Pursue Divergent PathwaysThe two organizations, both federally funded, are developing alternate assessments for students with severe cognitive disabilities, but are working under very different theories of learning.Curriculum Common Core at Four: Sizing Up the EnterpriseThe common-core standards have touched virtually every aspect of the nation's K-12 system over the past several years, but big challenges remain for the initiative.
Special Education Common-Assessment Groups Differ on AccommodationsBut the two state consortia both aim to provide a more-inclusive experience for English-language learners and students with disabilities.
Curriculum Two Districts, Two Approaches to Common-Core CurriculumTo help implement the common-core standards, one district opts for the offerings of a major publisher, while another writes its own materials.
Standards & Accountability Vision, Reality Collide in Common-Core TestsPolitical, technical, and financial factors have constrained some of the original, and more ambitious, plans for the assessments being developed by two state coalitions.
Standards & Accountability Standards Pose Teacher-Prep ChallengeSchools of education are showing a range of responses to the common core, including acceptance, uncertainty, and even resistance.Standards & Accountability New Standards Sway Purchasing PlansFrom technology to curricular materials and testing tools, the common-core standards are having considerable influence on K-12 spending decisions.
Standards & Accountability Resistance to the Common Core MountsCritics of the standards for English/language arts and mathematics span the political spectrum, from tea-party members to union leaders.
