The following designed-based implementation research (DBIR) study explores the impacts of a research-practice partnership (RPP) on two fifth grade ELA teachers and the researcher as they engaged with the designing and implementation of two critical literacy pedagogy (CLP) units through the adaptation of mandated New York State Common Core (NYSCC)…

As the content knowledge of the world grows, so do the demands placed upon our educational system. These demands come from a variety of sources--local, state, national, and corporate agencies. Critical to meeting these demands are the knowledge, skills, and practices teachers need to educate today's youth. Researchers in the area of teachers'…

Rapid adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the Race to the Top (RTTT) competition, and backlash around these policies created widespread uncertainty among state educational agencies (SEAs). SEAs may have not had a clear direction about how to support standards implementation in a new context, and therefore, may have looked to their…

In this month's interview, Kappan's editor talks with high school English teacher and researcher Lisa Scherff about the ongoing struggle over who gets to define the English language arts curriculum. Dating back to the creation of the subject area, more than a century ago, classroom teachers have advocated for a varied course of study that helps…

Transition curricula are courses, learning modules, or online tutorials typically developed jointly by secondary and postsecondary faculty and offered no later than 12th grade to students at risk of being placed into remedial math or English programs in college. Based on interviews and other data, this brief describes key elements of English…

This study presents how beginning teachers create and teach an English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum in urban schools in the context of an educational reform movement driven by mandates such as Common Core State Standards (CCSS), high stakes tests, and prescribed curricula. They serve in schools with each using unique and individual curricula due…

The purpose of this case study research was to understand the ways in which an innovative, urban secondary English teacher (Ms. B) approached English Language Arts, when a set, standardized curriculum and testing were in place. The Common Core standards were prescribed within a required module-based presentation format. New literacies pedagogy…

The purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine elementary teacher perceptions of mandated curriculum change. In the spring and fall of 2015, Illinois elementary school teachers in a north suburban school district participated in a focus group, an online survey, and follow-up interviews to gather data about teachers' perceptions of the…

This 15-year program of research explored the extent to which prosocial attitudes and behavior of high school students were increased by focused lesson plans administered in dedicated high school classrooms over 1 or 2 academic semesters. The narrative describes the evolution of the Character Development and Leadership Program from a pilot study…

This article offers strategies for adjusting in-class curriculum to align with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and how to increase fluency with the demands of standardized tests. The implementation of the standards themselves, the inequality among school districts, whether the tests measure privilege over aptitude, the quality of…

The English Language Arts (ELA) standards are compositionally flawed and further distorted by a high-stakes environment that discourages balanced, meaningful pedagogy; to subvert this reality, teachers must practice subterfuge by foregrounding Personal Standards as the primary drivers of instruction. This author discusses how ELA instructors must…

With the emergence of new academic demands created by curricular reforms such as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), policy makers and educators have recognized that the linguistic complexity of new curricula requires greater coordination of instructional efforts in teaching English language learners (ELLs). However, the literature has yet to…

One thing we know for certain: the Common Core will become yet-another failed initiative unless our curriculum provides a clear, unambiguous picture of how to teach for understanding. The solution? A concept-based curriculum. Where can you learn how to create one? "Designing a Concept-Based Curriculum in English Language Arts." Fusing…

The impetus for this report is new evidence that state department of education work to align instruction with standards may make a difference for teachers' practices and understanding about their state standards. Using data from the RAND American Teacher Panel, the authors found that Louisiana teachers were more likely than other teachers to…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invested in the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) as one strategy to support teachers' and students' transition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts. This report provides an early look at the implementation of LDC in sixth-grade Advanced Reading classes in a large Florida…