Who are the Common Core states? It's a loaded question. For CCSS to work, it has to be 100% of states. Or does it? If we are Common Core "by default," other markets cease to matter.
What does CCSS expect in terms of testing? School librarians help with curriculum, but next wave of obligation will be testing -- time, space, technology.
Computer-based assessments. Networks not ready. Computer preparation required. Locked-on browsers, specific versions of flash, javascript. Backporting iPads. Crazy man hours.
NAEP cutoffs can be discouraging, even to the best and brightest. Duncan said scores are a valid indictment of both our schools and children, but reality is they are too punitive.
CCSS will remain a political hot potato -- a states' rights legacy. First it was text exemplars, then testing and data reporting, but my biggest problem is that the design of the CCSS standards and their adoption was not and continues not to be transparent.
Over the past few years, we've moved towards a more nuanced understanding of text complexity, involving task. Towards a more nuanced understanding of informational text. Realizing most materials are inherently CCSS aligned. Our understanding of CCSS will deepen over time, we will realize many criticisms are knee-jerk reactions.
CCSS is not 1:1 (beyond assessment). It's not formative assessments. It's not merit-based pay, though it lays some of the architecture for that. It's not getting rid of your librarian, or replacing your library aide with a computer technician. It is the thin end of the wedge, the excuse for states and districts to implement new policies and initiatives.
Help teachers realize they are meeting the bulk of the standards. In generating urgency, there is a sense that existing curriculum and methods are found sorely lacking. Librarians can help in reframing CCSS as mapping the work of the classroom to overarching sequence, for the use of the entire instructional team as well as external alignment.