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Common Core

Education news, analysis, and opinion about the Common Core State Standards, a set of academic standards for teaching English and mathematics in K-12 schools.

See also: Standards

Explainer

The Common Core Explained
With all the developments and debate around common standards, here are the resources you'll need to get up to speed.
Photo of students taking test.
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Standards & Accountability Explainer What’s the Purpose of Standards in Education? An Explainer
What are standards? Why are they important? What's the Common Core? Do standards improve student achievement? Our explainer has the answers.
Sarah Schwartz, July 31, 2023
11 min read
Lindsey Henderson, a secondary-mathematics specialist for the Utah board of education, talks about data science and the Utah Mathematics Pathways initiative with math educators during a seminar at Pleasant Grove High School in Pleasant Grove on May 30.
Lindsey Henderson, a secondary-mathematics specialist for the Utah board of education, talks about data science during a seminar at Pleasant Grove High School in Pleasant Grove, Utah, on May 30, 2023.
Jim Urquhart for Education Week
Mathematics Project Are 69´«Ă˝ Getting All the Math They Need to Succeed?
Advocates say reforms in math teaching are pushing out statistics and geometry and driving a drop in students' math scores.
Sarah D. Sparks, July 31, 2023
15 min read
Image of stairs on a blueprint, with a red flag at the top of the stairs.
Feodora Chiosea/iStock/Getty
Standards & Accountability The Architects of the Standards Movement Say They Missed a Big Piece
Decisions about materials and methods can lead to big variances in the quality of instruction that children receive.
Sarah Schwartz, November 28, 2022
4 min read
A teacher looks at a book with young children.
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Standards & Accountability Opinion Educators Weigh In on Implementing the Common Core, Even Now
Though outlawed in some states, the standards still offer a strong foundation for English, math, and other subjects.
Larry Ferlazzo, August 31, 2022
4 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Mathematics Opinion How Reflexive Partisanship Has Undermined Math Education
Conflict over how math is taught is not new. An educator recalls the many disputes since the 1990s.
Rick Hess, August 9, 2022
6 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Standards & Accountability Opinion Did I Accurately Guess the Fate of the Common Core? You Be the Judge
In 2012, I imagined what the Common Core would be like in a decade. Now, readers can compare this imagined “future” to reality.
Rick Hess, August 1, 2022
7 min read
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Teaching Opinion Q&A Collections: Implementing the Common Core
Ten years of posts sharing lots of advice and experiences related to applying the Common Core State Standards.
Larry Ferlazzo, July 20, 2021
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of the flag of the United States with the stripes changing to black and white, cutout people representing the black and white population and Black student in the classroom with hand raised.
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Equity & Diversity Why the Critical Race Theory Fight Is Harder for Educators Than the Common Core Battle
Educators and advocates see clear parallels—and sharp differences—between the politically charged disputes with schools at the center.
Andrew Ujifusa, July 1, 2021
12 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Standards & Accountability Opinion How the Failure of the Common Core Looked From the Ground
Steve Peha shares insights from his on-site professional-development work about why the common core failed, in a guest letter to Rick Hess.
Rick Hess, May 19, 2021
4 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Standards & Accountability Opinion Common Core Is a Meal Kit, Not a Nothingburger
Caroline Damon argues Rick Hess and Tom Loveless sold the common core short, claiming the issue was a matter of high-quality implementation.
Rick Hess, May 13, 2021
5 min read
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Standards & Accountability How New Common Core Research Connects to Biden's Plans for Children and Families
A study of national test scores indicate the early phase of the Common Core State Standards did not help disadvantaged students.
Andrew Ujifusa, April 29, 2021
5 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Standards & Accountability Opinion After All That Commotion, Was the Common Core a Big Nothingburger?
The Common Core State Standards may not have had an impact on student outcomes, but they did make school improvement tougher and more ideological.
Rick Hess, April 26, 2021
3 min read
Standards & Accountability Fact Check: Trump Administration Didn't 'Get Rid' of Common Core
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos implied at the Conservative Political Action Conference that President Donald Trump has fulfilled a pledge to "get rid of" the Common Core State Standards. That's not true.
Evie Blad, February 27, 2020
2 min read
Standards & Accountability People Keep on Saying They're Killing the Common Core. How Dead Is It?
Florida's governor declares a standards overhaul would "remove all vestiges" of the common core. But it remains unclear how much is really changing under the Florida Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking.
Andrew Ujifusa, January 27, 2020
4 min read