A lack of information, research, and teacher training exists on the effective implementation of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) or other state standards for struggling learners. The pace and standardization of the curriculum are often at odds with the unique learning needs of students from diverse backgrounds. Researchers in one large urban…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were released in 2010 with an appendix that claimed to outline a research-based case for the standards. In this article, we examine the CCSS Appendix A as a case of research use in policy by analyzing the type of sources the document cites, the accuracy of its claim-citation relationships, and the frames its…

Classroom assessment research in the United States has shifted away from the examination of teacher-made tests, but such tests are still widely used and have an enormous impact on students' educational experiences. Given the major shifts in educational policy in the United States, including the widespread adoption of the Common Core State…

The Common Core State Standards were created with college and career readiness in mind to help prepare students to succeed upon graduation from high school. In this article, I examine college readiness as it has been described by both university mathematicians and educational researchers to precisely discern what will foster success in collegiate…

Area models are an important strategy for representing and solving multiplication problems under the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (NGA Center and CCSSO 2010). The hands-on task presented in this article, featuring differentiation and open-ended learning, sets up students to discover area models for themselves. Organized around…

This practitioner-based book provides different approaches for reaching an increasing population in today's schools - English language learners (ELLs). The recent development and adoption of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (CCSS-ELA/Literacy), the…

The year students take Algebra I historically determines how far they progress in secondary mathematics, creating complex equity issues around access to this course. By examining a case study of one large, urban school district adjusting to the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSS-M), we demonstrate how district leaders' interactions,…

The Common Core State Standards in Mathematics and Next Generation Science Standards encourage substantial shifts in teaching, but how to enact change is not specified. This mixed-methods exploratory study shows how different implementation supports were related to teachers' use of standards-aligned instructional practices in the Chicago Public…

Students enrolled in post-secondary developmental mathematics courses hold mathematical misunderstandings that begin before their college careers. Specifically, these students struggle with conceptual understanding of fractions, ratios, and proportions. The Common Core State Standards in Mathematics outline standards for K-12 mathematics…

The purpose of this study is to examine the public opinion on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) on Twitter. Using Twitter Application Program Interface (API), we collected the tweets containing the hashtags #CommonCore and #CCSS for 12 months from 2014 to 2015. A Common Core corpus was created by compiling all the collected 660,051 tweets.…

Can You Build It? is an engaging Improve It! task that asks children to construct 3D shapes based on 2D depictions. Students' initial 3D creations often need revision, and as they build and re-build, they develop spatial relationships. This task was implemented in a first-grade class, connected to composing 3D geometric shapes to address the…

This study investigated the extent to which third graders (n = 84) from predominantly low-socioeconomic status families had access to books matched to their reading levels in their homes. On average, students showed home visitors books that fell within the Common Core State Standards' recommended text difficulty range for Grade 3 (mean Lexile =…

In 2016, 20 states administered the ACT exam to all high school students. Of those 20 states, three use the ACT in their statewide testing program as an assessment for accountability at the high school level. States using the tests as part of an accountability system are required to submit results from an independent alignment study to the U.S.…

The purpose of this study was to understand the decisions elementary principals have made during the Common Core State Standards reform. Specifically, (a) what decisions principals have made to support Common Core implementation, (b) what strategies elementary principals have employed to communicate with stakeholders about Common Core State…

The purpose of this study was to help determine teachers' beliefs about multimedia and its relationship to literacy and the literacy standards of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). It looks at how four teachers' professional development experiences through an online graduate course at Rutgers University called "Web-Based Multimedia…