Common Core Standards: “The Organizing Principle for U.S. Education”

Education Week’s online edition for October 8, 2009, included a commentary on recommended changes to support development of national “Common Core Standards” (CCS). Those unfamiliar with the CCS may want to refer to my blog post on September 21, which describes CCS development, the timetable for release of draft standards (K-12 standards in mathematics and language arts are due this December), and some of their implications for public education.

As with so many initiatives, Common Core Standards will likely unleash a domino effect in the areas of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Thus, some proponents argue state adoption is just a beginning point to realize their potential as "the organizing principle for U.S. education." According to the commentators in the Education Week article, “Curricula, tests, textbooks, lesson plans, and teachers’ on-the-job training will all have to be revised to reinforce the standards” (Fuhrman, Resnick, & Shepard, 2009, p. 2). I can see the major textbook companies already scrambling to write new books aligned to the Common Core Standards, rubbing their hands in glee at the possible profits to be gleaned in a national market.

The intent of the CCS is to increase equitable access to rigorous teaching and learning experiences for our youth. However, I wonder about the naiveté in assuming there is a linear progression from adoption of content standards (whether they are national or not) to development and implementation of student assessments, to alignment of instructional materials and classroom lesson plans, to increased student learning.

Highly regarded researchers have noted, “Educators, parents, and policymakers [have] acted as though they assumed that money, curriculum materials, facilities, and their regulation, caused learning” (Cohen, Raudenbush, & Ball, 2003, p. 119). However, as they so pithily note, while student access to content is a necessary precondition of learning, “access itself does not cause learning” (p. 120).

What will change in public schools as states adopt the Common Core Standards? Hmmm. Well, we’ll probably see reams of new standards disseminated and dissected, new textbooks will be pitched and purchased, teachers will have “on-the-job training,” and then . . . improved student learning? That remains to be seen. Most researchers and educators intuitively know learning is a highly complex process. However, it seems that we oversimplify by assuming that we can produce better learning by having the right standards and instructional resources in place. I think we’d all like to believe this could be a magic bullet. However, there are so many other variables influencing teaching and learning. In the “busy-ness” of adopting and aligning to new standards, I hope we don’t get “lost in the weeds” and lose sight of the most important factors contributing to student success: teachers and students engaged in the intricate dance we call learning. Core Common Standards aside, the “core” question remains, “How can we increase student learning?”


Cohen, D. K., Raudenbush, S. W., & Ball, D. L. (2003). Resources, Instruction, and Research. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 25(2), 119-142.

Fuhrman, S.H., Resnick, L., & Shepard, L. (2009). Standards aren't enough. Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/10/08/07fuhrman.h29.html?tkn= VLRCPAw8p8uUP2zz3wkGxsil88r5TnrwH%2FNe