The Common Core State Standards are at the center of the latest firestorm in American education reform. But this is not the nation's first torrid experience with standards implementation. In Challenging Standards, Jonathan Supovitz and James Spillane bring together the collective knowledge of top education researchers who have both experienced and investigated education reform challenges in the past. Combining both evidence-based research and applied knowledge, the contributors share with educational leaders their accrued wisdom about implementing standards in classrooms and systems, building capacity through relationships, and navigating the fractious political terrain. Each section of the book contains a set of facilitative questions that will help leadership teams, book clubs, and professional learning communities connect the chapters to their work.
Foreword Introduction Part I: Leading Standards Implementation in Schools and Systems Section Intro James Spillane Chapter 1: Engaging with Standards-Jonathan Supovitz Chapter 2:The Infrastructure and Conceptual Challenges of the Common Core Curriculum State Standards: English Language Arts As A Case-Carol Lee Chapter 3: Implementing the Common Core: How Individuals, Organizational Resources, and Instructional Practice Matter-John Diamond Chapter 4: School-Subject Variation in Educational Infrastructures: A Cautionary Implementation Tale-James Spillane, Megan Hopkins Part II: Leading Standards Implementation in Classrooms Section Intro-Jonathan Supovitz Chapter 5: Rewriting Myths about Curriculum Materials and Content Standards in Mathematics-Janine Remillard Chapter 6: Overcoming the Challenges of Choosing Curriculum Materials: A Systematic Approach to Evaluating Common Core Alignment-Morgan Polikoff Chapter 7: Fulfilling the Promise of Rigor for All-Emily Hodge Chapter 8: Common Core in Uncommon Schools: Tools for Teacher Cohesion?-Bruce Fuller Chapter 9: Collaborative Professional Development To Create Cognitively Demanding Tasks in English Language Arts-Vivian Mihalakis, Anthony Petrosky Part III: Building System Capacity through Relationships Section Intro-James Spillane Chapter 10: Connections, Coherence, and Common Understanding in the Common Core-Thomas Hatch Chapter 11: Intelligently Partnering for Common Core Implementation-Donald Peurach Chapter 12: Contracting for Digital Education in the Common Core Era-Patricia Burch, Andrew L. LaFave, Annalee Good Part IV: Navigating Politics Section Intro Chapter 13: Differences in Common: A Brief History of American Educational Standards-David Gamson Chapter 14: Core Confusion: A Practitioner's Guide to Understanding Its Complicated Politics-Patrick McGuinn Chapter 15: Implementation Politics and the Common Core-Katie McDermott Chapter 16: A Window of Opportunity: The Politics and Policies of Common Core Implementation in California-Jennifer O'Day
