Revised Publishers’ Criteriaforthe Common CoreState Standardsin EnglishLanguage Artsand Literacy,Grades 3–12David Coleman • Susan Pimentel

INTRODUCTION

Developed by two ofthe lead authors of the CommonCore State Standards and revised throughconversationswith teachers, researchers, and other stakeholders,these criteria are designed toguidepublishers and curriculum developers as they work to ensurealignment with the standardsin English language arts (ELA) and literacy for history/social studies,science, and technicalsubjects.The standards are the product of state-led effort — coordinated bythe NationalGovernors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council ofChiefState School Officers —and were developedincollaborationwithteachers, school administrators, andexperts to provideclear and consistent framework to preparestudents for collegeand theworkforce.

The criteria articulated belowconcentrate on the most significant elements of theCommonCoreStateStandards and lay out their implications for aligning materials with the standards. Theseguidelines arenot meant to dictate classroom practice butratherto helpensurethatteachersreceive effective tools. They areintended to guide teachers, curriculum developers, andpublishers to be purposeful and strategic in bothwhat to include and what to exclude ininstructionalmaterials.By underscoring what matters most inthe standards,the criteria illustratewhat shifts must take place in the next generation of curricula, including paring away elementsthatdistract or are at odds withthe CommonCore StateStandards.

At the heart of these criteria are instructionsfor shifting the focus of literacy instruction to centero careful examination of the text itself.In aligned materials, work in reading and writing (as wellas speaking and listening) must center o the text under consideration. The standards focus onstudentsreading closely to draw evidence and knowledge from the textand require studentstoread texts ofadequate range and complexity. The criteriaoutlined below therefore revolvearound thetexts that students read and thekinds of questions students should address as theywrite and speak about them.

The standardsand thesecriteriasharpen the focuson the close connection betweencomprehension of text and acquisition of knowledge. While the link between comprehension andknowledge in readingscience and history texts is clear,the same principle applies to all reading.The criteriamake plain that developing students’ prowess at drawing knowledge from the textitself is the point of reading;readingwell means gainingthemaximum insight or knowledgepossible from eachsource. Student knowledgedrawn from thetext is demonstrated when thestudent usesevidence from the text to support a claim about the text. Hence evidence andknowledge linkdirectlyto the text.

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DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION

This document has two parts:The first articulates criteria forELA materials in grades 3–12 and thesecond forhistory/social studies, science,and technical materials in grades 6–12.Each partcontainssections discussing the following key criteria:

I. Key Criteria for Text SelectionII. Key Criteria for Questions and TasksIII. Key Criteria for Academic VocabularyIV. Key Criteria for Writing to Sources and Research

The criteriafor ELA materials in grades 3–12haveoneadditional section:

V. Additional Key Criteria for StudentReading, Writing, Listening,and Speaking

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ELA and LiteracyCurricula, Grades3-5; ELA Curricula, Grades 6–12

I. KeyCriteriafor Text Selection

1. Text Complexity: The CommonCore StateStandards requirestudents to read increasinglycomplextextswith growing independence as they progress toward career and collegereadiness.

A. Texts for each gradealign with thecomplexityrequirements outlinedin thestandards. Reading Standard 1 outlines the level oftextcomplexity atwhichstudentsneed to demonstrate comprehension in each grade. (Appendix A in theCommonCore StateStandards gives further information on how text complexity canbe measured and offers guidance toteachers andcurriculum developers o selectingthe texts theirstudents read.)1 Researchmakes clear that the complexitylevelsof thetexts students are presently required to read are significantly below whatis requiredto achieve college and careerreadiness. The Common Core State Standards hinge onstudentsencountering appropriately complex texts ateach grade level to develop themature language skills and the conceptual knowledge they need for success in schooland life. Instructionalmaterials should also offer advanced texts to provide studentsat every gradewith the opportunity to read texts beyondtheir current grade leveltoprepare them for the challenges of more complex text.

B. All students (including those who are behind) have extensive opportunities toencounter grade-levelcomplex text. Far too often, students who havefallen behindareonly given less complextexts rather than thesupport theyneed to read texts atthe appropriate level ofcomplexity. Complex textis a rich repository of ideas,information,and experience which all readers should learn how to access, althoughsomestudents will need morescaffoldingto do so. Curriculum developers andteachers have the flexibility to build progressions oftexts ofincreasing complexitywithin grade-levelbands that overlap to a limited degree with earlier bands (e.g.,grades 4–5andgrades 6–8).

Curriculum materials should provide extensive opportunities for all students in aclassroom to engage with complex text, although students whose reading ability isdeveloping at a slower rate alsowill needsupplementary opportunities toread textthey can comprehend successfully without extensive supports. These students mayalso need extraassistancewith fluency practiceand vocabulary building. Studentswho need additional assistance, however, must not miss out on essential practice andinstruction their classmates are receiving to help them read closely, think deeplyabout texts, participatein thoughtful discussions, and gain knowledge of both wordsand theworld.

Somepercentageof students will enter grade 3 or later grades without command offoundational reading skills such as decoding. Itis essential forthese students to have

1 A working grouphas developed clear, common standardsfor measuringtext complexitythat are consistent acrossdifferent curriculaand publishers. Thesemeasures blendquantitative andqualitative factors andarebeing widely shared and made available topublishers andcurriculum developers. The measuresare basedo the principles laidout inAppendix A and havebeen furtherdevelopedandrefined. These criteriarecognize the critical role that teachers play in text selection.

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age-appropriatematerials to ensurethat they receive the extensive training andpractice inthe foundational reading skills requiredtoachieve fluency andcomprehension. The K–2publishers’ criteria more fullyarticulate the essentialfoundational skillsall studentsneed to decode to become fluent readersandcomprehend text.

C. Shorter, challenging texts that elicit closereading and re-reading are providedregularly at each grade. The study of short texts is particularly useful to enablestudentsat a wide range of reading levelsto participate in the close analysis of moredemanding text. The CommonCore StateStandards place high priority on theclose,sustained reading of complex text, beginning with Reading Standard 1. Such readingfocuses on whatlies within the fourcorners ofthe text. It oftenrequires compact,short, self-contained textsthat studentscan read and re-read deliberately and slowlyto probe and ponderthe meanings ofindividual words, the orderin which sentencesunfold, andthe development of ideas over the course of the text. Reading in thismanner allows students to fully understand informational texts as well as analyzeworks of literature effectively.

D. Novels, plays, andother extendedfull-length readings are also provided withopportunities for close reading. Students should also berequired to read texts of arange oflengths — fora variety ofpurposes — including severallonger texts eachyear. Discussion of extended or longer texts should span the entire text while alsocreating a seriesof questionsthat demonstrate how careful attention to specificpassages withinthe text provide opportunities for close reading. Focusing onextended texts will enablestudents to develop thestaminaand persistencethey needto read and extractknowledge and insightfrom largervolumes of material. Not onlyd students needtobe able toreadclosely, but they alsoneedtobe able toreadlarger volumes of text when necessary forresearch orotherpurposes.

E. Additional materials aim to increase regular independent reading of texts thatappeal to students’ interests while developing both their knowledgebaseandjoy inreading. These materials should ensure that all students have daily opportunities toread texts oftheirchoice on theirownduring andoutside of the school day. Studentsneedaccess toa wide range of materials o a variety of topics andgenres bothintheirclassrooms and in theirschool libraries to ensure thatthey have opportunities toindependently read broadly and widely tobuildtheir knowledge, experience, andjoyin reading. Materials will need to includetexts at students’ own reading level as wellas texts with complexity levels that will challengeand motivatestudents. Texts shouldalso vary in length and density, requiring students toslow downor readmore quicklydepending o their purpose for reading. In alignment with the standardsand toacknowledgetherangeof students’ interests, these materials should includeinformationaltexts and literary nonfiction aswell asliterature. A varietyof formatscan also engage a wider range of students, such ashigh-quality newspaper andmagazine articles as well as information-rich websites.

2. Range and Quality of Texts: The Common Core StateStandards require greater focus oninformationaltext in elementary schooland literary nonfiction in ELA classes in grades 6– 12.

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A. In grades 3–5,literacy programs shift the balance of texts and instructionaltime toinclude equalmeasures of literary and informationaltexts.The standards call forelementary curriculum materials to berecalibrated to reflect mix of 5 percentliterary and 50 percent informationaltext, including reading in ELA, science, socialstudies, and the arts. Achieving the appropriate balance between literary andinformationaltext in the next generation of materials requires a significantshiftinearly literacy materials and instructional timeso that scientificand historical text aregiven the same time and weightas literary text. (Seep. 31 of the standardsfordetailso how literature and informational texts are defined.) In addition, to develop readingcomprehension for all readers, as well as build vocabulary, the selectedinformationaltexts should build a coherentbody ofknowledge bothwithinandacross grades. (Thesample seriesof textsregarding “The Human Body” provided on p. 33 of the CommonCore State Standards offers an exampleof selecting texts that build knowledgecoherentlywithin and acrossgrades.)2

B. In grades 6–12, ELA programs shift the balance of textsand instructional timetowards reading substantially more literary nonfiction. The CommonCore StateStandards requirealigned ELA curriculum materialsin grades 6–12to include a blendof literature (fiction, poetry, and drama) and substantial sampling of literarynonfiction,including essays,speeches,opinionpieces,biographies,journalism,andhistorical, scientific, or other documents written for a broad audience. (Se p. 57 ofthe standardsformore details.) Most ELA programs and materials designed for themwill need to increase substantially the amount of literary nonfiction they include.Thestandardsemphasizearguments (such as those inthe U.S. foundational documents)and other literary nonfictionthatis built o informational text structures ratherthanliterary nonfiction that is structured as stories (such asmemoirs or biographies). Ofcourse, literarynonfiction extendswell beyond historical documentsto include thebest of nonfictionwrittenfor broad audienceon widevariety of topics, such asscience, contemporary eventsand ideas, nature, and the arts. (Appendix B oftheCommonCore StateStandards provides several examples of high-quality literarynonfiction.)

C. Thequality of the suggested texts is high — they areworth readingclosely andexhibit exceptional craft andthought or provide useful information Given theemphasis of theCommon CoreStateStandards on closereading, many of thetextsselected should be worthy of close attention and careful re-reading forunderstanding.Tobecome career andcollege ready, students must grapple with rangeof worksthatspan many genres, cultures, and eras and model thekinds of thinkingand writingstudentsshould aspire to in their own work. Also, there shouldbe selections ofsourcesthat require studentsto read and integrate a larger volume of material forresearch purposes. (SeeAppendix of the standardsforgrade-specificexamplesoftexts.)

2 The note on the range and content of student reading in K–5(p. 10) states: “By reading texts in history/social studies,science,andother disciplines, students builda foundationof knowledge inthese fields that will alsogive them backgroundknowledge tobe betterreaders in allcontentareas in latergrades.Students can only gain this foundation when the curriculum isintentionallyand coherentlystructured to develop rich content knowledge within and acrossgrades.”

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D. Specific texts or text types named in thestandardsareincluded. At specific points,the CommonCore StateStandards require certain texts ortypes oftexts. In grades 9– 12, foundational documents from American history, selectionsfrom Americanliterature and worldliterature,a play by Shakespeare,and an American dramaareallrequired. In early grades, studentsare required to study classicmythsand stories,including works representing diverse cultures. Alignedmaterials for grades 3–12should set out a coherent selection and sequenceof texts (ofsufficientcomplexityand quality) to givestudents a well-developed sense of bodiesof literature (likeAmericanliterature or classic myths andstories)as partofbecoming college andcareer ready.

E. Within a sequence or collection of texts, specificanchor textsare selected forespeciallycareful reading. Often in research and other contexts, several texts will beread to explore a topic. It is essentialthat such materials include a selected text or setof texts that canact as cornerstone or anchor text(s) thatmake careful studyworthwhile. The anchor text(s) provide essential opportunities for students tospendthe time and care required forclose reading and to demonstrate in-depthcomprehension of a specificsource or sources. The additional research sourcesbeyondthe anchor texts then enable students to demonstrate they can read widely aswell as read specific sourcein depth.

II. KeyCriteriafor Questions and Tasks

1. High-Quality Text-Dependent Questions and Tasks: Among the highest priorities of theCommonCore StateStandards is that students be able toread closely and gain knowledgefrom texts.

A. significant percentage of tasks and questions are text dependent. The standardsstrongly focuson studentsgathering evidence, knowledge, and insight from what theyread and therefore require thata majority ofthe questions andtasks that studentsask and respond to bebased on thetext under consideration. Rigorous text-dependent questions require students todemonstrate that they not only canfollowthe details ofwhatis explicitly stated butalso are able to make valid claims thatsquare with all the evidence in the text.

Text-dependent questions d not require informationor evidence from outside thetextortexts; they establish whatfollows and whatdoes notfollow from the textitself.Eighty to ninety percent of the Reading Standards ineachgrade require text-dependent analysis;accordingly, aligned curriculum materials should have a similarpercentage of text-dependent questions. Whenexamining a complex text indepth,tasks should require careful scrutiny ofthe textand specific references to evidencefrom the textitselfto supportresponses.

High quality text dependent questions are more often text specific rather thangeneric. That is, high qualityquestions should bedeveloped to address thespecifictextbeing read, in response to the demands ofthattext. Good questions engagestudentsto attend to the particular dimensions, ideas, and specificsthat illuminateeach text. Though thereis productiverolefor good general questions for teachers

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and students to haveat hand, materials should not over rely on "cookie-cutter"questions that couldbe askedof any text, suchas “What is the mainidea? Providethree supporting details.” Materials should develop sequences ofindividually craftedquestions that draw students andteachers intoan exploration of the textortexts athand.

text-dependent approachcanandshouldbe appliedtobuilding knowledge frommultiple sources as well as making connections among texts and learned material,according to theprinciplethat each sourceberead and understood carefully.Gathering text evidence is equally crucial when dealing with larger volumes of text forresearch orotherpurposes. Student background knowledgeand experiences canilluminate the reading but should not replace attention to the text itself.

B. High-quality sequences of text-dependent questions elicit sustainedattention to thespecificsof the text and their impact. The sequence of questions should cultivatestudent mastery of the specificideasand illuminating particulars of the text. High-quality text-dependent questions will oftenmove beyondwhat is directly statedtorequire students to make nontrivial inferences based on evidence in the text.Questions aligned with Common Core State Standards should demand attention tothe textto answerfully. An effectiveset of discussionquestions might beginwithrelatively simple questions requiring attention to specific words, details, andarguments and then moveon to exploretheimpact of thosespecifics on thetext as awhole. Good questions will often linger over specific phrases and sentences to ensurecareful comprehension and also promote deep thinking and substantive analysisofthe text. Effective question sequences will buildo each other to ensurethat studentslearn to stay focused on the text so they can learn fully from it. Even when dealingwith larger volumes of text, questions should be designed to stimulate studentattention to gaining specific knowledgeand insight from each source.

C. Questions andtasks require the use of textual evidence, including supporting validinferences from the text. The CommonCore StateStandards require studentstobecome more adept at drawing evidence from the text andexplaining that evidenceorally andinwriting.Alignedcurriculum materials should include explicit modelsof arange ofhigh-quality evidence-basedanswers to questions — samplesof proficientstudent responses — about specific texts from each grade. Questions should requirestudentsto demonstrate that they follow the detailsof what is explicitly stated andareable to make nontrivial inferences beyond whatis explicitly stated in the textregarding what logically follows from the evidencein the text. Evidence will play asimilarly crucial role in student writing, speaking, and listening,as an increasingcommand of evidence in texts is essentialto making progress inreading as well as theother literacy strands.

D. Instructionaldesign cultivates student interest and engagement in reading richtexts carefully. core partofthe craftofdeveloping instructional materials is toconstruct questionsand tasksthat motivate studentsto read inquisitivelyandcarefully. Questionsshould reward careful reading by focusing o illuminatingspecificsand ideasof the text that “pay off” in a deeper understanding and insight.Often, a good question will help students see something worthwhile thatthey wouldnot have seeno a more cursory reading. The sequence of questions shouldnot be

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random butshould build toward more coherentunderstanding and analysis. Careshould be taken that initial questionsare not so overly broad and general that theypull students away from anin-depthencounter withthe specific text or texts; rather,strong questionswill return studentsto the text to achieve greater insight andunderstanding. The best questions will motivate students to dig in and explore further— just as texts should be worth reading, so should questionsbe worth answering.

E. Materials provideopportunities for students to buildknowledgethrough closereading ofspecific texts.Materials should design opportunities for close reading ofselected passagesor textsand create a seriesof questionsthat demonstrate howcareful attention to those readings allows students to gatherevidence and buildknowledge. This approach can and should encourage the comparison and synthesis ofmultiple sources. Once each source is read and understood carefully, attention shouldbe giventointegrating what students have just readwithwhat they have readandlearned previously. How does what they have just read compare to what they havelearned before? Drawing upon relevant prior knowledge, how does the text expand orchallenge that knowledge? Asstudents apply knowledge and concepts gained throughreading to build a more coherentunderstanding ofa subject, productive connectionsand comparisons across texts and ideas should bring students back to careful readingof specific texts. Students can and should make connectionsbetween texts, but thisactivity should not supersede the close examinationof eachspecific text.

F. Questions and tasks attend to analyzing the arguments and information at the heartof informational text. As previously stated, the CommonCore StateStandardsemphasizethereadingof more informationaltext in grades K–5and more literarynonfiction in grades 6–12. This emphasis mirrors the Writing Standards that focus onstudents’ abilitiesto marshal an argument and writeto inform or explain. The shift inbothreading andwriting constitutes a significant change from the traditional focus inELA classrooms on narrative text or the narrative aspects of literary nonfiction (thecharactersand the story) toward more in-depthengagement withthe informationaland argumentativeaspects of thesetexts. While the English teacher is not meant tobe a content expert inanarea coveredby particular texts,curriculum materials shouldguideteachers and students to demonstrate careful understanding of the informationdevelopedinthe text. For example, in narrativewith great deal of science,teachers and students should be required to follow and comprehend the scientificinformation as presented by the text.In a similar fashion,it is just as essential forteachers and students to follow the details ofan argumentand reasoning in literarynonfictionas it is forthem to attend to issues ofstyle.

2. Cultivating Students’ Ability T ReadComplex Texts Independently: Another key priority ofthe Common Core StateStandards is requirement that students be ableto demonstratetheirindependentcapacity to read atthe appropriate levelof complexityand depth.

A. Scaffolds enableall students to experience ratherthan avoid the complexity ofthetext.Many students will need careful instruction — including effective scaffolding —to enable them to read atthe levelof text complexity required by the Common CoreStateStandards. However, the scaffolding should not preempt or replace the text bytranslating its contents forstudents ortelling students whatthey are going to learn in

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advanceof reading thetext; the scaffolding shouldnot become analternate, simplersource of information that diminishesthe need for students to read thetext itselfcarefully. Effective scaffolding aligned with the standardsshould result in the readerencounteringthetext on its own terms, with instructions providinghelpful directionsthatfocus students on the text. Follow-upsupport shouldguide the reader whenencounteringplaces in thetext whereheor shemight struggle. Alignedcurriculummaterials therefore should explicitly direct students to re-read challenging portions ofthe textand offerinstructors clearguidanceabout an arrayof text-basedscaffolds.When productive struggle with the text is exhausted, questions rather thanexplanations can help focus thestudent’s attention o keyphrases and statements inthe textor on the organization ofideas in the paragraph.

When necessary, extra textual scaffolding prior to and during the first read shouldfocus on words and concepts thatare essential to a basic understanding and thatstudentsare not likely to know or be able to determine from context. Supportsshouldbe designedtoserve a wide range of readers, including those Englishlanguagelearners and other students who are especially challenged by the complex text beforethem. Texts and the discussion questions should be selected and ordered so thattheybootstrapontoeachother andpromote deepthinking andsubstantive engagementwith the text.

B. Reading strategies support comprehensionof specific texts and the focus on buildingknowledgeand insight. Close reading and gathering knowledge from specific textsshould be at the heart of classroom activities andnot be consignedtothe marginswhen completing assignments. Reading strategies should work in the service ofreading comprehension (ratherthan an end unto themselves) and assist students inbuilding knowledge andinsight from specific texts. To be effective, instruction onspecificreading techniquesshould occur when they illuminate specificaspectsof atext. Students need to build an infrastructureof skills, habits, knowledge, dispositions,and experiencethat enables them to approach new challenging texts with confidenceand stamina. As muchas possible, this training shouldbe embeddedinthe activity ofreading the textratherthan being taughtas a separate body ofmaterial. Additionally,careshould betaken that introducing broad themes and questions in advanceofreading does notpromptoverly general conversations ratherthan focusing reading onthe specific ideas and details, drawing evidence from the text, and gleaning meaningandknowledge from it.

C. Design for whole-group, small-group, andindividual instruction cultivates studentresponsibility and independence. Itis essential thatquestions, tasks, and activities bedesignedtoensurethatall students areactively engaged in reading. Materials shouldprovide opportunities for students toparticipate inreal, substantive discussions thatrequire them to respond directly to the ideas oftheirpeers. Teachers can begin byasking thekind and level of questions appropriateto thereading and then studentsshould be prompted to ask high-quality questions about what they are reading tooneanother for furthercomprehension and analysis. Writing about text is also an effectiveway to elicit this active engagement. Students should have opportunities tousewriting to clarify, examine, and organize their own thinking, so reading materials

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should provide effective ongoing promptsfor studentsto analyze textsin writing.Instructional materials shouldbe designedtodevote sufficient time in class tostudentsencountering text without scaffolding, asthey often will in college- andcareer-ready environments. significant portionof the time spent witheachtextshould provide opportunities forstudentsto work independently on analyzing grade-leveltext because this independentanalysis is required by the standards.

D. Questions and tasks require careful comprehension of the text before asking forfurtherevaluation orinterpretation The Common Core State Standards call forstudentsto demonstrate a careful understanding of what they readbefore engagingtheiropinions, appraisals, orinterpretations. Aligned materials should thereforerequire students to demonstrate thatthey have followed the details and logic ofanauthor’s argument beforethey areasked to evaluatethethesis or comparethethesisto others. When engaging in critique, materials should require students to return tothe textto check the quality and accuracy oftheirevaluations and interpretations.Often, curricula surrounding texts leap too quickly into broad and wide-openquestions of interpretationbefore cultivating commandof the details andspecificideas in the text.

E. Materials make the text the focus ofinstruction by avoidingfeatures that distractfrom the text. Teachers’ guides or students’ editionsof curriculum materials shouldhighlight the reading selections.Everything included in the surrounding materialsshould be thoughtfully considered and justified before being included.The text shouldbe central, and surrounding materials should beincluded only when necessary, so asnot todistract from the text itself. Instructionalsupport materials should focus onquestions that engage students inbecoming interestedinthe text. Rather thanbeingconsigned to the margins when completing assignments, close and careful readingshould be at thecenter of classroom activities. Given the focus of the CommonCoreStateStandards, publishers should beextremely sparing in offering activities thatarenot text based. Existing curriculawill need to be revised substantially to focusclassroom time on studentsand teacherspracticing reading, writing, speaking, andlistening in direct response to high-quality text.

F. Materials offer assessment opportunities that genuinelymeasureprogress. Alignedmaterials should guide teachers to provide scaffolding but alsograduallyremovethose supports by including tasks thatrequire students to demonstrate theirindependent capacity to read and write in every domain at the appropriatelevel ofcomplexityand sophistication. Activities usedfor assessment shouldclearly denotewhat standards and texts arebeing emphasized, and materials should offer frequentand easily implemented assessments, including systems for record keeping andfollow-up.

III. KeyCriteriafor Academic Vocabulary

Materials focus on academic vocabulary prevalent in complex texts throughout reading,writing, listening, andspeakinginstruction. Academic vocabulary (describedinmoredetail as Tier 2 words inAppendix of the CommonCore State Standards) includes thosewords that readers will find in alltypes of complex texts from different disciplines.

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Sometimes curricula ignore these wordsand payattention only to the technical wordsthatare unique to a discipline. Materials aligned with theCommon CoreStateStandardsshould help studentsacquire knowledge of general academicvocabulary because thesearethewords that will help them access widerangeof complex texts.

Alignedmaterials shouldguide students togather as muchas they canabout the meaningof these words from the contextofhow theyarebeing used in thetext, whileofferingsupport for vocabulary when studentsare not likely to be ableto figureout theirmeanings fromthe text alone. As the meanings of words vary with thecontext, themorevaried the context provided to teach the meaningof a word is, the more effective theresults will be (e.g., state was admitted to the Union; he admittedhis errors; admissionwas too expensive). In alignment withthe standards,materials should also requirestudentsto explain the impact of specificword choiceson the text. Materials andactivities should also provideampleopportunities forstudents to practice the use ofacademic vocabulary in theirspeaking and writing.

Somestudents, including someEnglish languagelearners,will also need support inmastering high-frequency words thatare notTier 2 words but are essential to readinggrade-leveltext. Materials should therefore offer the resourcesnecessaryfor supportingstudentswho are developing knowledge of high-frequency words. Sinceteachers willoftennot have the time toteachexplicitly all of the high-frequency words required,materials should make it possible for students to learn thewords’ meanings on their own,providing suchthings as student-friendly definitions forhigh-frequency words whosemeanings cannot be inferred fromthe context. It also can be useful for English languagelearners to highlight explicitly and link cognates of key words withother languages.

IV. KeyCriteriafor Writing to Sources and Research

1. Materials portray writing to sources as keytask. The Common Core State Standardsrequire students notonly to show thatthey can analyzeand synthesizesources but also topresent careful analysis, well-defendedclaims, andclear informationthroughtheirwriting. Several of theWriting Standards, including mostexplicitly Standard 9, requirestudentsto draw evidence from a textortexts to supportanalysis, reflection, or research.Materials aligned with the Common Core StateStandards should givestudents extensiveopportunities towrite inresponse tosources throughoutgrade-levelmaterials. Modelrubrics for the writing assignments as well as high-quality student samples shouldalso beprovided as guidanceto teachers.

2. Materials focus on forming argumentsaswell as informative writing.While narrativewriting is given prominence in early grades, as students progress through the grades theCommonCore State Standards increasingly ask students towrite arguments orinformationalreports from sources.As a consequence, less classroom time shouldbespent in later gradeson personal writing in response to decontextualized promptsthat askstudentsto detail personal experiencesor opinions. The Common Core State Standardsrequire thatthe balance ofwriting students are asked to do parallel the balance assessedo the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP):

• In elementary school, 30 percent of student writing should be to argue, 35 percentshould be to explain/inform, and 35 percent should be narrative.

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• In middle school, 35 percentofstudentwriting should be to write arguments, 35percent shouldbe toexplain/inform, and30 percent shouldbe narrative.

• In high school, 40 percent of student writing should be to write arguments, 40 percentshould be to explain/inform, and 20 percent shouldbe narrative.

These forms of writing are not strictly independent; for example, arguments andexplanations often includenarrativeelements, and both informingand arguingrely onusing informationor evidence drawnfrom texts.

3. Materials make it clear that student writing should be responsive to the needs oftheaudienceandtheparticulars of thetext in question. As the standards are silent o lengthand structure, student writing should not be evaluatedby whether it follows particularformatorformula (e.g., the five paragraph essay). Instead, the CommonCore StateStandards have beencarefully designedtofocus o the elements or characteristics ofgood writingincluding drawing sufficient evidence from texts,writing coherently withwell-developedideas, andwriting clearly withsufficient commandof standardEnglish.

4. Students aregiven extensivepractice with short, focused research projects.WritingStandard emphasizes that students should conduct several short researchprojects inaddition to moresustained research efforts. Materials should require several of theseshort research projectsannually to enablestudents to repeat theresearch process manytimes and develop the expertise needed to conductresearch independently. Aprogressionof shorter researchprojects alsoencourages students todevelopexpertise inone area by confronting andanalyzing different aspects of the same topic as well as othertexts and source materials on thattopic.

V. Additional Key Criteria for Student Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking

1. Materials provide systematic opportunities for students to read complex text withfluency. Fluency describes thepaceand accuracy with which students read — the extentto which studentsadjust the pace, stress, and tone of their reading to respond to thewords in the text. Often, studentswho are behind face fluency challengesand need morepractice reading sufficiently complex text. Materials aligned with the Common Core StateStandards should draw on theconnections between theSpeaking and Listening Standardsand theReading Standards on fluency to provideopportunities for students to developthis importantskill (e.g.,rehearsing an oral performance of a written piece has thebuilt-inbenefit of promoting reading fluency).

2. Materials help teachers plan substantive academicdiscussions. In accordance with theSpeaking and Listening Standards, materials aligned with theCommon CoreStateStandards should show teachershow to planengaging discussions aroundgrade-leveltopics and texts thatstudents have studied and researched in advance. Speaking andListening prompts and questions should offer opportunities for students to sharepreparation, evidence, andresearch — real, substantive discussions that require studentsto respond directly to the ideas oftheirpeers. Materials should highlight strengtheningstudents’ listening skills as wellas their ability to respond to and challenge their peerswith relevant follow-upquestions andevidence.

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3. Materials use multimedia and technologyto deepen attention to evidence and texts.The CommonCore StateStandards requirestudents to compare the knowledge theygainfrom reading texts to the knowledge they gain from other multimedia sources, such asvideo. The Standards for Reading Literature specifically require students to observedifferent productions of the same play toassess how eachproductioninterprets evidencefrom the script. Materials aligned with the Common CoreStateStandards thereforeshould use multimedia andtechnology ina way that engages students inabsorbing orexpressingdetails of thetext rather than becoming distraction or replacement forengagingwith thetext.

4. Materials embracethe most significant grammarand languageconventions. TheLanguage Standards provide a focus for instruction each year to ensure that students gainadequatemastery of theessential “rules” of standard written and spoken English.Theyalso push students to learn howto approach language as a matter of craft so they cancommunicate clearlyand powerfully. In addition to meeting each year’sgrade-specificstandards,students are expected to retain and furtherdevelop skills and understandingsmastered in preceding grades. Thus, aligned materials should demonstrate that theyexplicitly and effectively support student mastery of thefull rangeof grammar andconventionsastheyare applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts. The materialsshould also indicate when students shouldadhere toformal conventions and when theyarespeaking and writing for a less formal purpose.

CONCLUSION: EFFICACY OF ALIGNED MATERIALS

Curriculum materials must have a clear anddocumentedresearchbase. The most importantevidenceis that thecurriculum accelerates student progress toward career and collegereadiness.It can be surprising which questions, tasks, and instructions provoke the most productiveengagement with text, acceleratestudent growth, and deepen instructor facility with thematerials. great deal of the material designedfor the standards will by necessity be new, but asmuch as possible the work should be basedo researchand developedandrefinedthroughactualtesting in classrooms.Publishers should provide a clear research plan for how the efficacy of theirmaterials will be assessed and improved over time. Revisions should be based on evidence ofactual useand results with widerangeof students, including English languagelearners.

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History/Social Studies, Science, andTechnical Subjects Literacy Curricula,Grades 6–12

INTRODUCTION

This brief addendum to the publishers’ criteria forELA in grades 3–12focuses on theportions ofthose criteria mostrelevantto materials in history/social studies, science,and technical subjects.In the criteria thatfollow, we restate several ofthe key points from the ELA criteria as they relateto these contentareas and add others thatare particularly significant. As was the case with ELA,what follows is not an exhaustive list but the most significant elementsof the CommonCore StateStandards to be mindful of when revising and developing aligned materials.

Meeting the demands of the Literacy Standards requires substantially expanding the literacyrequirements in history/social studies as well as in science and technical subjects. The adoption ofthe LiteracyStandards in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects thereforerequiresseveral significant shiftsin these curricula. Specifically, in alignment with NAEP, the standardsrequire thatin grades 6–12, student reading across thecurriculum must include a balance of textsthatis one-third literary, one-third history/social studies, andone-third science. Specific standards(pp.60–66) definetheactual literacy skills for which history/social studies, science, and technicalteachers are responsible. (Appendix B ofthe Common Core StateStandards contains sampling oftexts ofappropriate quality and complexity for study in these disciplines.)

I. Text Selection

1. Text Complexity: The CommonCore StateStandards requirestudents to read increasinglycomplextextswith growing independence as they progress toward career and collegereadiness.

A. Texts foreach grade align with thecomplexity requirements outlinedin thestandards. Reading Standard10 outlines the level of text complexity at whichstudentsneed to demonstrate comprehension in each grade. (Appendix A in theCommonCore State Standards gives further information on how text complexity canbe measured and offers guidanceto teachers and curriculum developers on selectingthe texts theirstudents read.)3 Researchmakes clear that the complexity levels of thetexts students are presently required to read aresignificantly below what is requiredto achieve college and careerreadiness. The Common Core State Standards hinge onstudentsencountering appropriately complex textsat each grade level to develop themature language skills and the conceptual knowledge they need forsuccess in schooland life. Instructional materials should also offer advanced texts to providestudentsat every gradewith theopportunity to read texts beyond their current gradelevel toprepare them for the challenges of more complex text.

3 A working grouphas developed clear, common standardsfor measuringtext complexitythat are consistent acrossdifferent curriculaand publishers. Thesemeasures blendquantitative andqualitative factors andarebeing widely shared and made available topublishers andcurriculum developers. The measures arebased on theprinciples laid out in Appendix A and havebeen furtherdevelopedandrefined. These criteriarecognize the critical role that teachers play in text selection.

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B. All students (including those who are behind) have extensive opportunities toencounter grade-levelcomplex text. Far too often, students who havefallen behindareonly given less complextexts rather than thesupport theyneed to read texts atthe appropriate level ofcomplexity. Complex textis a rich repository of informationwhich all readers learn how to access, although somestudents will need morescaffolding to do so. Curriculum developersand teachershave the flexibility to buildprogressions of text withingrade-levelbands that overlap to a limited degree withearlier bands (e.g., grades 4–5and grades 6–8).

Curriculum materials should provide extensive opportunities for all students in aclassroom to engage with complex text, although students whose reading ability isdeveloping at a slower rate alsowill needsupplementary opportunities toread textthey can comprehend successfully withoutextensive supports. These students mayalso need extraassistancewith fluency practiceand vocabulary building. Studentswho need additional assistance, however, must not miss out on essential practice andinstruction their classmates are receiving to help them read closely, think deeplyabout texts, participatein thoughtful discussions, and gain knowledge of both wordsand theworld.

2. Range and Quality of Texts: The CommonCore StateStandards require keen focus oninformationaltext.

A. Curricula providetexts that arevaluablesources of information. Informationaltextsin science,history,and technical subjects may or may not exhibit literary craft, butthey should be worth reading as valuablesources of information to gain importantknowledge. It is essentialthat the scientific and historicaltexts chosen for carefulstudy be focused on such significant topicsthat they are worth the instructional timeforstudents to examine them deliberately to develop a full understanding. Toencourageclosereading o a regular basis,many of these texts should be shortenough to enablethorough examination. Students should also be required toassimilatelarger volumes of content-areatext to demonstratecollegeand careerreadiness. Discussion ofextended orlongertexts should span the entire textwhilealso creating series of questions that demonstratehow careful attention to specificpassages withinthe text provides opportunities for close reading. Focusing onextended texts will enablestudents to develop thestaminaand persistencethey needto read and extractknowledge and insightfrom largervolumes ofmaterial. Not onlyd students needtobe able toreadclosely, but they alsoneedtobe able toreadlarger volumes of text when necessary forresearch orotherpurposes.

B. Curriculaincludeopportunities to combinequantitativeinformation derivedfromcharts and other visual formats and media with information derived from text. Animportant part of building knowledge in history/socialstudies, science, and technicalsubjectsisintegrating information drawn from different formatsand media. Forexample, theReading Standards require students to integrate the knowledge theygain from quantitativedata with information they gain from a single or multiplewritten textsources. Therefore, materials aligned with theCommon CoreState

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Standards might require students to compare their own experimental resultstoresults aboutwhich they have read, and integrate information from video or othermedia with what they learn fromtext.

II. Questions and Tasks

1. High-Quality Text-Dependent Questions and Tasks: Among the highest prioritiesof theCommonCore StateStandards is that students be able toread closely and gain knowledgefrom texts.

A. Curriculaprovideopportunities for students to buildknowledgethrough closereading ofa specific text ortexts. As inthe ELAReading Standards, the large majorityof the Literacy Standards for History/Social Studies,Science, and Technical Subjectsrequire thataligned curricula include high-quality questions andtasks that are textdependent. Such questions shouldencouragestudents to“read like a detective” byprompting relevantand central inquiries into the meaning of the source material thatcan be answered only through close attention to the text. The Literacy Standardstherefore require students to demonstrate theirability to follow the details ofwhatisexplicitly stated, makevalid inferences that logically follow from what is stated,anddraw knowledge from the text.Student background knowledgeand experiences canilluminate the reading but should not replace attentiontothe text itself.

Materials should design opportunities for close reading of selected passages fromextended or longer texts and create series of questions that demonstratehow closeattention to thosepassages allows studentsto gather evidence and knowledge fromthe text. This text-dependent approachcan and should be appliedtobuildingknowledge from the comparison and synthesis of multiple sources inscience andhistory.(Itbears noting thatscience includes many non-textsources such asexperiments, observations, and discoursearound thesescientific activities.) Onceeach sourceis read and understood carefully, attention should begiven to integratingwhat students have just readwithwhat they have readandlearned previously. Howdoes what they have just read compare to what they have learned before? Drawingupo relevant prior knowledge, how does the text expandor challenge thatknowledge? As students applyknowledge and concepts gained through readingtobuilda more coherent understanding of a subject, productive connections andcomparisonsacrosstextsand ideasshould bring studentsbackto careful reading ofspecifictexts. Gathering text evidence is equally crucial when dealing with largervolumes of text forresearch orotherpurposes.

B. All activities involvingtext require that students demonstrate increasing mastery ofevidencedrawn from text. The Common Core StateStandards requirestudents tobecome more adept at drawing evidence from the text andexplaining that evidenceorally andinwriting. Alignedcurriculum materials shouldinclude explicit models of arange ofhigh-quality evidence-basedanswers toquestions — samplesof proficientstudent responses — about specific texts from each grade. Questions should requirestudentsto demonstrate that they follow the detailsof what isexplicitly stated andareableto makenontrivial inferences beyond what is explicitly stated in thetextregarding what logicallyfollows from the evidence in the text.Gathering text evidence

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is equally crucialwhen dealing with larger volumes of text for research or otherpurposes.

C. Questions andtasks require careful comprehension ofthe textbefore asking forfurther evaluationand interpretation. The CommonCore StateStandards call forstudentsto demonstrate a careful understanding of what they read before engagingtheiropinions, appraisals,or interpretations. Alignedmaterials should thereforerequire students to demonstrate that they have followedthe details andlogic of anauthor’s argument beforethey areasked to evaluatethethesis or compare the thesisto others. Beforestudents areasked to go beyond thetext and apply their learning,they should demonstratetheir grasp of thespecific ideas and details of thetext.

2. Cultivating Students’ Ability To Read Complex Texts Independently:Another key priorityof the CommonCore State Standards is a requirement that students be able todemonstrate their independent capacity toreadat the appropriate level of complexityand depth. Alignedmaterials therefore shouldguide teachers toprovide scaffolding tostudentsbut also gradually remove those supportsby including tasksthat requirestudentsto demonstrate their independent capacity to read and writein every domain atthe appropriate level ofcomplexity and sophistication.

A. Scaffolds enableall students to experienceratherthan avoid the complexity ofthetext.Many students will need careful instruction — including effective scaffolding —to enable them to read atthe level oftextcomplexity required by the Common CoreStateStandards. However, thescaffolding should not preempt or replacethetext bytranslating its contents forstudents ortelling students what they are going tolearninadvanceof reading thetext; thescaffolding should not becomean alternate, simplersource of information that diminishesthe need for studentsto read the text itselfcarefully. Effective scaffolding aligned with the standards should resultin the readerencounteringthetext on its own terms, with instructions providinghelpful directionsthat focus students o the text. Follow-upsupport shouldguide readers inthe use ofappropriatestrategies and habits when encounteringplaces in thetext wheretheymight struggle. When productive struggle with the text is exhausted, questions ratherthan explanations can help focus the student’s attention on key phrases andstatementsin the text or on the organization of ideasin the paragraph or the work aswhole.

When necessary, extra textual scaffolding prior to and during the first read shouldfocus on words and concepts thatare essential to a basic understanding and thatstudentsare not likely to know or be able to determine from context. Supports shouldbe designedtoserve a wide range of readers, including those Englishlanguagelearners and other students who are especially challenged by the complex text beforethem. Texts and the discussion questions should be selected and ordered so that theybootstrapontoeachother andpromote deepthinking andsubstantive engagementwith the text.

B. Design for whole-group, small-group, andindividual instruction cultivates studentresponsibility and independence. It is essentialthat questions, tasks, and activities aredesignedtoensure that all students are actively engagedinreading. Materials should

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provide opportunities for students toparticipate inreal, substantive discussions thatrequire them to respond directly to the ideas oftheirpeers. Teachers can begin byasking thekind and level of questions appropriateto thereading and then studentsshould be prompted to ask high-quality questions about what they are reading tofurthercomprehensionandanalysis. Writing about text is also an effective way toelicit this activeengagement. Students should haveopportunities to usewritingtoclarify, examine, and organize their own thinking, so reading materialsshould provideeffectiveongoingprompts for students toanalyze texts inwriting. Instructionalmaterials should be designed to devote sufficient time in class to studentsencounteringtext without scaffolding, as they often will in college- and career-readyenvironments. A significant portionof the time spent witheachtext shouldprovideopportunities for students towork independently withinandoutside of class onanalyzing thetext becausethis independent analysis is required by thestandards.

III. Academic (andDomain-Specific) Vocabulary

Materials focus on academic vocabulary prevalent in complex texts throughout reading,writing, listening, and speaking instruction. The Common Core StateStandards requireafocus on academic vocabulary thatis prevalent inmore complex texts as wellas domain-specificwords. Academic vocabulary (describedinmore detail as Tier 2 words inAppendix Aof the CommonCore StateStandards) includes thosewords that readers will find in all typesof complex texts from different disciplines. Materials alignedwith the Common Core StateStandards should help studentsacquire knowledge of general academicvocabulary in additionto domain-specificwordsbecause these words will help students access a range ofcomplextexts in diverse subject areas.

Alignedmaterials shouldguide students togather as muchas they canabout the meaning ofthese words from the contextofhow theyarebeingused in thetext, whileofferingsupportforvocabulary when students are notlikely to be able to figure outtheirmeanings from thetextalone. As the meanings of words vary withthe context, the more variedthe contextprovidedtoteachthe meaning of word is, themoreeffectivetheresults will be(e.g., statewas admitted to the Union; he admittedhis errors; admissionwas tooexpensive). Inalignment with thestandards, materials should also requirestudents to explain theimpact ofspecificwordchoices o the text. Materials and activities should also provide ampleopportunities forstudents to practice the use ofacademic vocabulary in theirspeaking andwriting.

Somestudents, including someEnglish languagelearners, will also need support in masteringhigh-frequency words thatare notTier 2 words but are essential to reading grade-leveltext.Materials should therefore offer the resources necessary for supporting students who aredeveloping knowledge of high-frequency words. Sinceteachers will often nothave the time toteach explicitly all ofthe high-frequency words required, materials should make itpossible forstudentsto learn the words’ meaningson their own, providing such thingsasstudent-friendlydefinitions for high-frequency words whose meanings cannot be inferredfrom the context. Italso can beuseful for English language learners to highlight explicitly and link cognates of keywords with other languages.

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IV. Writing to Sources and Research

1. Materials portray writing to sources asa keytask. Crafting anargument frequently relieso using information; similarly, an analysis of subject will includeargumentativeelements. Whiletheseforms arenot strictly independent, what is critical to both forms ofwriting is the use and integration of evidence. In historical, technical, and scientificwriting, accuracy matters, and students should demonstratetheir knowledgethroughprecisionanddetail.

2. Materials make it clear that student writing should be responsive to the needsof theaudienceandtheparticulars of thetext in question. As the standards are silent on lengthand structure, student writing should not be evaluatedby whether it follows traditionalformatorformula (e.g. the five paragraph essay). Instead, the CommonCore StateStandards have beencarefully designedtofocus o the elements or characteristics ofgood writingincluding drawing sufficient evidence from texts, writing coherently withwell-developedideas, andwriting clearly withsufficient commandof standardEnglish.

3. Students aregiven extensivepractice with short, focused research projects.WritingStandard emphasizes that students should conduct several short research projects inaddition to moresustained research efforts. Materials should require several of theseshort research projects annually to enablestudents to repeat the researchprocess manytimes and develop the expertise needed to conductresearch independently. Aprogressionof shorter researchprojects alsoencourages students todevelopexpertise inone area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of the same topic as well as othertexts and source materials on thattopic.

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