What’s going on with the Common Core?

Two major divisions for standardization of learning English Language Arts / Literacy in History/Social

Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Mathematics

Implementation of “The 4 C’s” Creativity Collaboration Communication Critical thinking

English Language Arts / Literacy Common Core’s foci Reading

Text complexity Comprehension

Writing Responding to reading Research Inquiry

Speaking and Listening Public speaking Collaboration

Language Conventional use Vocabulary

Common Core’s literary modus operandi “The Common Core asks students to read

stories and literature, as well as more complex texts that provide facts and background knowledge in areas such as science and social studies. Students will be challenged and asked questions that push them to refer back to what they’ve read. This stresses critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills that are required for success in college, career, and life.”

-- “ELA/Literacy standards”, corestandards.org

Common Core and the Library A focus on English Language Arts & Literacy standard

close and deep reading text complexity literary texts with strong characters and themes hybrid texts --- such as graphic novels, inter-textual

novels compare/contrast canonical texts with contemporary texts

Librarians align with the Common Core by recommending varied book formats that cater to different ways of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language.

close and deep reading for comprehension listening as the gateway to learning

Librarians support reading requirements in classes with substantiated reading recommendations. Librarians have been doing this for decades in the form of

Information literacy.

Common Core and the Library Accept that information literacy is an established approach to learning

that incorporates all that the Common Core is seeking to “re-do”.

Information Literacy is:“the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information. …

The beginning of the 21st century has been called the Information Age because of the explosion of information output and information sources. It has become increasingly clear that students cannot learn everything they need to know in their field of study in a few years of college. Information literacy equips them with the critical skills necessary to become independent lifelong learners.” – American Library Association website, 2014.

Accepting that the “common core” is an approach to information literacy that librarians have been doing for decades.

Controversial texts Informational texts: textbooks, owners’ manuals, government documents. Literary texts: novels, plays, poetry, epistolaries, scripts, journals, serials.

CCSS pushes for a focus on informational texts. However, Evers (2014), states: “reading literature enhances our moral imagination … it allows use to see how some complicated life situation, how different kinds of people respond to situations in various ways and how people solve their problems … and reading literature provides cultural enjoyment. With a focus on informational texts, this is going to be lost in the reading practices of our students.”

What is considered “controversial” in the era of the Common Core? Literature? Is canonical literature now “controversial”? Is leisurely,

reflective, “reading for the enjoyment of it” type reading now deemed – controversial? If not, where and how does personal reading fit into the English classroom?

Is young adult literature considered controversial? Themes about sex, violence, realism, science fiction, fantasy, urban experiences, rural experiences?

Is multicultural literature considered controversial? Where is there discussion about engaging in global literature present in academic standards for the American classroom?

Are formats controversial? Graphic novels, audiobooks, ebooks?

Literary imaginations According to Dr. Sandra Strotsky, the Common Core

prescribes about a 50/50 focus on literary and informational texts, K-12 (Jorrey, 2013). This prescription ‘boxes in’ what is determined/defined as

“literature / literary” AND “complex”. If high schoolers can’t read beyond the 12th grade level,

how does this prepare them for college level reading? This prescription holds the potential to marginalize student

choice and access to various literary genres. How does a students’ leisure reading tastes, habits,

and choices find space in the Common Core classroom? Texts that students read independently need to be included

in the reading practices of the classroom.

Subjugated ways of knowing Because everyone is unique and different,

“consistency” is never guaranteed. “Faction” and “relevant truth” (Korrey, 2013)

– However, facts need to be taught, including basic writing mechanics, so that students’ narratives can find appropriate relational spaces in academic and research discourse. Rigor Inquiry Critical thinking

Reading to transgress Accepting that students’ independent reading choices is

also an independent learning choice, and we have no control over this aspect of their personal literacy practices.

Accepting that youth are human beings that know what they like to read, write, and think about, and need constructive, non-prescriptive spaces where they can talk about what they read, write, and think about.

Accepting that not everyone learns the same things in the same way at the same pace in the same contexts, thus “global” and “universal” is rarely, if ever, appropriate when engaging in the learning process.

Accepting that no matter what “new system” or “new technologies” come into society, the 4 C’s are always in play as human-to-human interaction; and they are always “fuzzy” and nuanced, and organic. We have to accept the messiness of our humanness in learning contexts.

My Common Core ???s What does “consistency” mean when CC is applied beyond the public school

system? How is “literacy” being defined? What’s a “complex text”? And who gets to define that? Haven’t teachers always incorporated the 4 C’s?

In what ways are the 4 C’s enacted to engage “21st century skills”? Oh yeah, what are “21st century skills”, exactly? Are we technology here? If so,

haven’t we always dealt with “new technologies”? How is technology “new” in education?

What’s “process”? Does Common Core accommodate large class sizes (or has “process” come at the

expense of individualized teaching and learning)? When do students get a say on what and how they want to learn?

In other words, do students get to say, “I liked this book” or “I hated this book” and talk about that?

How does “my life” become a reflective learning resource? How does “my life” count as a literary/literacy experience in the Common Core classroom?

What happened to No Child Left Behind? NCLB’s goal was “universal proficiency by 2014” (Stoules via Jorrey, 2013). 2009, National Governor’s Association created the CCSS.

Planning and implementation did not include higher ed faculty. 2010, CCSS adopted. 2013, CCSS starting to be implemented across the nation (so far, 44 states).

References American Library Association. Introduction to Information

Literacy. Chicago: ALA. Available: http://www.ala.org/acrl/issues/infolit/overview/intro

Anzur, T. & Evers, W. (2014, March 2). Sunday Morning News, KFI-AM 640, Los Angeles. Available: https://soundcloud.com/#terry-anzur/commoncore030214

Jorrey, K. (ed.). (2013). Concerned Parents Common Core Forum. Thousand Oaks, CA: Concerned Parents Conejo Valley. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srYHUdSpuR0

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers. Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts. Washington, DC: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers.