Special Report
Special Report

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 Comparison
    The 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.
    April 21, 2014
    Special Education Alternative-Assessment Groups Pursue Divergent Pathways
    The two organizations, both federally funded, are developing alternate assessments for students with severe cognitive disabilities, but are working under very different theories of learning.
    Liana Loewus, April 21, 2014
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    4 min read
    Curriculum Common Core at Four: Sizing Up the Enterprise
    The 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.
    Catherine Gewertz, April 21, 2014
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    7 min read
    Ninth graders at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, Md., take part infield-testing for assessments aligned with the Common Core State Standards. The exams will be rolled out in final form during the 2014-15 academic year.
    Ninth graders at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, Md., take part infield-testing for assessments aligned with the Common Core State Standards. The exams will be rolled out in final form during the 2014-15 academic year.
    Swikar Patel/Education Week
    Special Education Common-Assessment Groups Differ on Accommodations
    But the two state consortia both aim to provide a more-inclusive experience for English-language learners and students with disabilities.
    Liana Loewus, April 21, 2014
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    9 min read
    Maria Yepez works with her 4th grade class at Muir Academy in Long Beach, Calif., on exercises pegged to the common core that teach students critical reading and thinking skills.
    Maria Yepez works with her 4th grade class at Muir Academy in Long Beach, Calif., on exercises pegged to the common core that teach students critical reading and thinking skills.
    David Walter Banks for Education Week
    Curriculum Two Districts, Two Approaches to Common-Core Curriculum
    To help implement the common-core standards, one district opts for the offerings of a major publisher, while another writes its own materials.
    Catherine Gewertz, April 21, 2014
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    12 min read
    Seventh graders at Marshall Simonds Middle School in Burlington, Mass., including Nimra Mian, reflected here in an iPad, look at a practice PARCC test to gain familiarity with the format before a field test of exams tied to the common-core standards. The field tests for PARCC and Smarter Balanced began last month, marking an assessment experiment of unprecedented scope.
    Seventh graders at Marshall Simonds Middle School in Burlington, Mass., including Nimra Mian, reflected here in an iPad, look at a practice PARCC test to gain familiarity with the format before a field test of exams tied to the common-core standards. The field tests for PARCC and Smarter Balanced began last month, marking an assessment experiment of unprecedented scope.
    Gretchen Ertil for Education Week
    Standards & Accountability Vision, Reality Collide in Common-Core Tests
    Political, technical, and financial factors have constrained some of the original, and more ambitious, plans for the assessments being developed by two state coalitions.
    Stephen Sawchuk, April 21, 2014
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    12 min read
    Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., is sharing a library of video-based tools in order to familiarize the state’s teacher colleges with the common core and its implications for preparing new talent.
    Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., is sharing a library of video-based tools in order to familiarize the state’s teacher colleges with the common core and its implications for preparing new talent.
    Standards & Accountability Standards Pose Teacher-Prep Challenge
    Schools of education are showing a range of responses to the common core, including acceptance, uncertainty, and even resistance.
    Stephen Sawchuk, April 21, 2014
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    9 min read
    Standards & Accountability New Standards Sway Purchasing Plans
    From technology to curricular materials and testing tools, the common-core standards are having considerable influence on K-12 spending decisions.
    Sean Cavanagh, April 21, 2014
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    11 min read
    Ray Harney of Rockville, Ind., lets his feelings be known about the common core while attending a public hearing recently at the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis.
    Ray Harney of Rockville, Ind., lets his feelings be known about the common core while attending a public hearing recently at the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis.
    Aaron P. Bernstein for Education Week
    Standards & Accountability Resistance to the Common Core Mounts
    Critics of the standards for English/language arts and mathematics span the political spectrum, from tea-party members to union leaders.
    Andrew Ujifusa, April 21, 2014
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    11 min read