- Know what Common Core resources exist, and determine the difference between good resources and those that are less reliable. “Everything claims to align to the Common Core, but that doesn’t make it a good resource,” she said.
- Give teachers time to collaborate rather than working in isolation.
- Cultivate a culture in which teachers can take risks and make mistakes. “If we create environments in which teachers are afraid to do something wrong, they may only rely on surface strategies,” she said.
For teachers, Wessling advises:
- Choose a fair entry point for students, and create steps to help students reach the Common Core’s ultimate learning goals, given their skills and abilities at the outset.
- Reach out and collaborate, whether it’s with other teachers you work with, through professional organizations, or through other methods of outreach and professional support.
“For a lot of high school English teachers, we were trained to be teachers of literature … but I don’t think we’ve been particularly skillful at helping students become adept at managing information,” said Morgan Dunton, president of the NCTE Assembly of State Coordinators of English Language Arts and also the ELA specialist and mid-coast regional representative at the Maine Department of Education.
Dunton said the Common Core standards “challenge the perception about what informational texts are” and represent “the next step in the evolution of literacy instruction.” She said teachers will need to emphasize the close reading of text, gathering evidence, using it effectively, and understanding “what information is and how it permeates our lives.”
Guidance from the IRA
The International Reading Association (IRA) has put together a set of Common Core guidelines to help educators understand issues “that have proven to be especially confusing or challenging to implement.” Here’s a summary of these issues.
Use of challenging texts:
- The standards increase the number of challenging texts that students must read, but those texts must be taught and supported properly.
- Educators should not increase the levels of texts that are used in kindergarten and first grade reading lessons.
- Students should receive instruction in the reading of texts written at a variety of levels. “The Common Core State Standards specify the levels of text that students need to be able to read effectively by the end of school years,” the guidance says. “However, this does not mean that all as- signed reading should be at these levels.”
- Teachers must have professional development opportunities to make sure they’re able to teach and support students properly.
Foundational skills:
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