Understanding the Common Core Curriculum – A Practical Guide

43 states have embraced a new set of academic standards called the Common Core State Standards. The purpose of the standards is to increase academic competitiveness in the US, while also preparing pupils for careers and college. These serve as benchmarks for what knowledge and skills in math and language arts kids should possess from kindergarten through their senior year of high school.

Many of the benchmarks are included in the Common Core at every grade level, but there are certain commonalities. Language arts standards emphasize using evidence to support arguments. Pupils will write more viewpoints and fewer personal stories in their writing. They will be required to read more nonfiction as well. The arithmetic standards cover fewer topics in more detail.

The idea behind the Common Core curriculum, also referred to as Common Core State Standards, was straightforward: if all kids were held to the same high academic standards, achievement and college preparation would increase.

This ebook will give you a practical description of the Common Core and the basic concepts behind it.