The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts (ELA), designed to make students college and career ready, were released in June 2010, and have since been adopted by 45 states seeking to be eligible for Race to the Top funds offered by the US Department of Education. The states that signed on with the CCSS agreed to fully implement these standards by the 2014-2015 academic year, the same year when the assessments for CCSS will be launched. Developers of the CCSS describe six instructional shifts that will be necessary to the implementation of the ELA standards. They are: (1) Balancing informational and literary texts; (2) Building knowledge in disciplines; (3) Moving up the staircase of textual complexity; (4) Focusing on text-based answers; (5) Writing from sources; and (6) Creating an academic vocabulary. This Brief reviews research on current implementations, considers research on learning theory in relation to implementing the CCSS, draws on research to explore implications of the forthcoming assessments, and offers recommendations for ongoing implementation.