Common Core Curriculum Criteria: Welcome Guide or Pedagogical Intrusion?
Close analysis of text and deep reading will be hallmarks of the new English/language arts common core standards, and associated curriculum should reflect these priorities, according to new criteria issued by common core authors. The documents are meant to guide publishers and anyone developing curriculum to support common core teaching and learning.
Aligned curriculum will require students to demonstrate complex understanding of text, not background knowledge or personal experience, by posing and responding to questions and developing arguments based on what they've read. Aside from the new criteria, there is—as yet—no formal panel or process to vet curriculum.
Some say the criteria will help teachers better design performance-based tasks aligned with the common core but worry that it will be difficult to validate publisher's claims that materials reflect the criteria. Others add concern that the criteria