Fewer, Clearer, Higher ─ How the Common Core State Standards Can Change Classroom Practice

For teachers, staff developers, teacher educators, school board members, and other policy makers, Rothman, who writes on standards and assessments and is associated with an education policy and advocacy organization, enumerates the nine major instructional shifts in the Common Core State Standards and the research and rationale behind the changes, with examples of new practices and their differences from traditional practices. He outlines the development of the standards in the initial chapter, then focuses on the math and English language arts standards. He explains how they focus on a few key topics, build in a sequence of expectations for each grade level, emphasize both student proficiency in math procedures and conceptual understanding, include standards for mathematical practice, call for a higher proportion of nonfiction reading, emphasize the use of evidence, require that students demonstrate the ability to read and comprehend increasingly complex tests, emphasize speaking and listening, and focus on literacy in the content areas. He also considers the barriers to implementation and steps to address them at the state and national levels. He does not provide lesson plans, templates, rubrics, or checklists, but instead helps readers make sense of the standards. He does include descriptions of lessons aligned with the standards and examples of assessment tasks meant to measure student performance. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)