Guides and Tutorials: Education: Common Core Standards

Links and Sites for Common Core

California Common Core State Standards
"Common Core State Standards

Educational standards describe what students should know and be able to do in each subject in each grade. In California, the State Board of Education decides on the standards for all students, from kindergarten through high school.
Since 2010, 45 states have adopted the same standards for English and math. These standards are called the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Having the same standards helps all students get a good education, even if they change schools or move to a different state. Teachers, parents, and education experts designed the standards to prepare students for success in college and the workplace.
The California Department of Education helps schools make sure that all students are meeting the standards" (cde.ca.gov).
What are the California Common Cores Standards?
"Provided by the Council of Great City Schools, this three-minute video explains how the Common Core State Standards will help students achieve at high levels and help them learn what they need to know to get to graduation and beyond. This video is also available in Spanish. "

Common Core State Standards

"The video "A New Foundation for Student Success", commissioned by the Hunt Institute and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), provides an introduction to the Common Core State Standards, including a brief history."

Articles & Research on Common Core

P21 Common Core Toolkit
From ERIC by Partnership for 21st Century Skills
Implementing the Common Core State Standards: State Spotlights
by the Council of Chief State School Officers, May 2013

Learn about Common Core

Learn about Common Core
From Sacramento City Unified School District
English Language Arts:
CA Common Core State Standards expose students to more complex text, meaning what they read will have a higher level of difficulty. This is important for college readiness, as the ability to answer questions about complex text is a key predictor of college success.
CA Common Core State Standards place a much greater emphasis on informational text – as do colleges and workplaces. Currently, in many elementary programs, only 15 percent of text is considered expository. The Common Core sets expectation that, in grades three through eight, 50 percent of the text be expository.

Math:
The CA Common Core State Standards for math were designed to focus instruction on fewer topics each year, allowing more time to be spent on each topic to foster deeper understanding of key concepts and skills.
CA Common Core State Standards ask students to engage in more complex, higher-order thinking. They require students to gain in-depth mastery of content, to demonstrate mastery by solving non-routine and multi-step problems, and to fully explain and justify their solutions.