Revised Publishers’ Criteria forthe Common Core State Standardsin EnglishLanguage Arts and Literacy, Grades K–2David Coleman • Susan Pimentel

INTRODUCTION

Developed by two ofthe lead authors of the CommonCore StateStandards and revised throughconversationswith teachers, researchersand other stakeholders, these criteria aredesigned toguidepublishers and curriculum developersastheyworkto strengthen existing programsandensurealignment of materials with the Standards to provide a clearand consistentframework.The standards aretheproduct of state-led effort coordinated by the NationalGovernorsAssociationCenter for Best Practices andthe Council of Chief State School Officers andweredevelopedincollaborationwithstates, teachers, school administrators, and content experts.

The criteria articulated below concentrateon themost significant elements of theCommon CoreStateStandards forliteracy in kindergarten through second grade and lay out their implicationsforaligning materials with the standards. They areintended to guide teachers, curriculumdevelopers andpublishers tobe purposeful andstrategic inbothwhat to include and what toexcludein instructionalmaterials. By underscoring what matters mostin the standards,thecriteria illustrate what shifts must take place in the next generation of curricula, including paringaway elements that distract or are at oddswith the Common Core StateStandards,and refiningcomponentsto be consistent with research-basedpractices.These guidelines are not meant todictate classroom practice but rather tohelpensure that teachers receive and rely on effectivetools. At the heart of these criteria is the belief that reading — in this case, learning to read,vocabularydevelopment and the knowledge gained in these earlyyears — is central to all otheracademic learning.

In the early grades, this includes thorough attention to the foundations ofreading. While the goalforreaders of all ages is to be able to understand and learn from what they read and to expresssuch knowledge clearly through speaking and writing abouttext,primary grade instruction in thefoundations of reading is essential to ensure thatreading problems are prevented and thatmoststudentswill read well enough to benefit from grade level instruction.While these criteria beginwith the foundational skills, they are not an end in and of themselves; rather, theyare necessaryand important components of an effective, comprehensivereading program designed to developproficient readers withthe capacity tocomprehendtexts across a range of types anddisciplines.

In kindergarten through the second grade,the most notable shifts in the standards whencompared to state standardsinclude explicit preparation to read informationaltext and arequirementthatstudents’ reading material be substantive and linked in meaningful ways tocontent area learning. They also include morein-depthapproachtovocabulary development

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and requirement that students encounter sufficiently complex text through listening even whilethey are learning how to read and write. The standards provide coherent approachtoreadingcomprehension in the earlyyearsbuilt on anchor standardsthat extend into third through twelfthgradelearning. Finally, thestandards cultivatea widerangeof writingincludingnarrativeexpression of experiences real and imagined as well as sharinginformation and opinions.

DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION

This document has three parts: The first articulates criteria thatshould guide the teaching ofreading foundations, the second details the criteria thatshould guide the selection of texts forread-alouds and for students who already can read, and thethird outlines criteria forthedevelopment of high-quality,fully integrated materials that provide linear,cumulative skillprogressions andpractice with text-dependent questions andtasks, leading to fluent,independent reading for meaning.

I. Key Criteria for Reading FoundationsII. Key Criteria for Text SelectionsIII. Key Criteria for Questions and Tasks

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ELA and Literacy Curricula, Grades K-2

I. Key Criteria for Reading Foundations

The Common Core State Standards offer specific guidance on reading foundations that shouldbe incorporated into curriculum materialsso that studentswill be well on their way todecoding automatically and reading with fluency by the time they finish second grade.Whileprogress in fluency with more complex text should continue through third grade and beyond,and gains in understanding of languagestructureshould continuethrough theelementarygrades, thefirst threeyears of instruction (K-2) arethemost critical for preventing studentsfrom falling behind and preventing reading failure. The standards articulate well-developedset of skillsand habitsthat taken collectively lay the foundation for studentsto achievecompetence in reading comprehension.(See pp.14–16of theCommon CoreStateStandardsformore detail.)

Materials aligned with theCommon CoreStateStandards needtoprovide sequential,cumulative instruction and practiceopportunities for the full range offoundational skills. Theelements should be gradually interwoven—from simple to complex—so that studentscome tounderstandanduse the system of correspondences that characterize writtenEnglish. Thecode systemson which reading and writing depend include letters,the speech sounds ofspoken language (phonemes),the correspondences betweenphonemes andgraphemes(phonics) and the representation ofmeaningful word parts (morphemes). Automatic andaccurateword recognition is the expected outcome of this instruction.Bylearning to decipherword forms students will be able to access word meanings in print, and make the shift toindependent, close reading of complex text.

1. Materials allow for flexibility in meeting the needs of a wide range of students. Studentscome to school unevenlyprepared to read.While the primary purpose ofa beginningreading instruction program is to ensure thatall studentslearn how to read, somestudentswill move ahead quickly and should be able to move on once they havedemonstratedmastery of the basic content. Additionally, adjustments shouldbe made toprograms now inuse torefine content and methodologythat will likely “catch” more ofthose students who otherwise would fall behind and requireremedial work.

2. Materials include effective instruction forall aspects offoundational reading (includingdistributedpractice).1 Materials that are aligned to the standards should provide explicitand systematic instruction and diagnostic support in concepts of print, phonologicalawareness, phonics, vocabulary development, syntax, and fluency. These foundationalskillsare necessary and central componentsof an effective, comprehensive readingprogram designedtodevelopproficient readers with the capacity to comprehend textsacross rangeof types and disciplines.

Materials should provide ample opportunities for students to understand and fully learnthe spelling/sound patterns necessary — though notsufficient— to become successfulreaders. This goal is accomplished when students can transfer knowledge of these

1 Details about what explicitly should be taught is outlined in the Foundational Reading Standards and further explicated in Appendix A

of the standards, including but not limitedtothe explicit teachingof thespeech sounds of English orthography, instruction in the natureof the speechsoundsystem (what is a vowel; what is a consonant; how is a consonant different from a vowel), andinstruction in letterformation as well as letternaming and alphabetic order.

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patterns to words notpreviously seen orstudied. Because students differ widely inhowmuch exposure and practice they need to master foundational skills, materials also needto incorporate high-quality activities for those students whoare able toreachfacility withless practice.Those students who need less practicecan enjoy activitiessuch asextensionassignments and especially more independent reading.

3. Fluencyis particular focus of instructionalmaterials. Fluency in theearly grades is afunction ofautomaticity in basic skills in speech sound, letter, word, and phraserecognition, as well as knowledge of the meanings of the words that are beingread.Materials should include routines and guidancethatwill remind teachers to monitortheconsolidation of skillsas studentsare learning them. Consolidationis usually accomplishedthrough systematic and cumulative instruction, sufficientpractice to achieve accuracy,and variety of specific fluency-building techniques supported by research. These includemonitored partner reading, choral reading, repeated readings with text,short timedpractice thatis slightly challenging to the reader,and involving thestudent in monitoringprogress towarda specific fluency goal.

Teacher support for fluency instruction should explicitly recognize that reading rates varywith the type of text being read and the purpose for reading. For example, comprehensionof texts that are of greater informational density or complexitygenerallyrequires slowerreading. Therefore, if fluency is being monitored to identify those students who needmore work in this area, passages thathave been standardized through research should beusedtoassess students’ fluency.

4. Materials focus on academic vocabulary prevalent in complex texts throughout reading,writing, listening, and speaking instruction.When they enter school, students differmarkedly in their vocabulary knowledge. The entire curriculum should address thisvocabularygap early and systematically or it will expandandaccelerate. All materialsshould provide opportunities for wider ranging and more intensive vocabulary instructionforstudents with weakervocabularies than theirpeers.

Instruction in science, social studies,and the arts will be a major vehicle for enhancingstudents’ vocabulary because most new word learning takesplace in the context of havingto understand and express ideas aboutsubjectmatter. Students should receive frequentinstruction in word meanings and practice with a varietyof vocabulary-building activities.For example, they should learn to examinethecontext of how the wordsare being used inthe text,consider multiple meanings of common words,examine shades of meaning ofwordsthat overlap semantically,and choose words carefully to express ideas. As theylearn to read meaningfulword parts, such as verb markers and comparative endings, therelationship between word form and word meaning should also be addressed. For Englishlanguagelearners, explicitly highlighting and linking cognates of key words withotherlanguages can be very useful.Materials should usegames, jokes, puns, and other forms ofword play to enhance instruction and develop a sense of excitement about words.

Some students, including some Englishlanguagelearners, will also need support inmastering the meaning ofhigh-frequency words that areessential to readinggrade-leveltext. Supplemental resources will be necessary for supporting students who aredeveloping knowledge of these words. Sinceteachers will often not havethetimetoteach explicitly all of the high-frequency words required, materials should make itpossible

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forstudents to learn the words’ meanings on their own, providing such things as student-friendly definitions forhigh-frequency words whose meanings cannot be inferred fromthecontext.

5. Materials offer assessment opportunities that measure progress in the foundations ofreading. Activities usedfor assessment shouldclearly denote what standards are beingemphasized, and materials should offer frequent and easily implemented assessments,including systems for record keeping and follow-up. These shouldinclude a frameworkand tools forstandardized by research in relation to established predictive benchmarkswhen fluency is being measured. Vocabulary development as well should be assessedusing the most reliable andvalidmethods currently available.

II. KeyCriteria forText Selections

The CCSSstrongly point to the necessity for teaching students how to read with texts that arewritten to facilitate accurate, independent, confident reading, and theconsolidation of basic

2nd 3rdreading skills in and grade. Students who can read are much more likelyto read.

The Common Core State Standards point strongly toward the integration oftextreading skillswith language comprehension instruction, even for those studentswho lag behind inachieving reading facility. That said, students should be guided into thoughtful reading ofeventhe simplesttexts used with beginning readers. To that end, all texts should contain somemeaningful information or narrative content with which to develop students’ comprehension.The criteriarecommended below emphasize the need to provide all studentswith consistentopportunities toconfront andcomprehend grade-leveltext.

In addition to students learning to read texts at the K-2level of complexity, thestandardsencouragestudents to encountermore complex texts to build knowledge through read-alouds. Students’ early knowledgein areas likehistory and scienceshould not be limited towhat they can read on their own. Because students at these grades can listen to much morecomplexmaterial than they can read themselves, read-aloud selections should beprovided tothe teachers in curriculum materials. These should be at levelsof complexitywell above whatstudentscan read on their own.

1. Texts for each gradealign with the requirements outlined in the standards. The CommonCore State Standards hinge o students encountering appropriate texts ateach gradelevelto develop the mature language skills and the conceptualknowledge they need forsuccessin school and life. Beginningin grade2,Reading Standard 10 outlines the bandlevelof text complexity at which students need to demonstrate comprehension.(Appendix A in the CommonCore State Standards gives further informationo how textcomplexitycan be measured and offers guidance toteachersand curriculum developerson selecting the texts theirstudents read.)2

2. All students (including those who are behind) have extensive opportunities to encountergrade-leveltext. Far too often, students who havefallen behind aregiven only less

2 A working grouphas developed clear, common standardsfor measuringtext complexitythat are consistent acrossdifferent curricula andpublishers. These measures blendquantitative andqualitative factors andarebeing widely shared and made available to publishers andcurriculum developers.The measuresarebased on theprinciples laid out in AppendixA and havebeen furtherdeveloped and refined.Thesecriteria recognize the critical role that teachersplayin text selection.

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complextexts ratherthan the instruction they need in the foundational skills in reading aswell as vocabulary and other supports they need to read at an appropriate level ofcomplexity. Complex text, whether accessed through individual reading or as a groupreading activity, is a rich repository of informationwhich all readers learn how to access.Complex text contains more sophisticatedacademic vocabulary, lends itself tomorecomplextasks, and isable to support rich dialogue.

Instruction for slower readers is mosteffective when itaddresses all ofthe critical readingcomponentsin an integrated and coordinated manner. Students who need additionalassistance, however, must not miss out on essential instruction their classmates arereceiving to help them think deeply abouttexts, participate in thoughtful discussions, andgain knowledge of both words and the world.

3. Text selections areworth readingandre-reading. The standards maintain that high-quality text selections shouldbe consistently offeredtostudents because they willencouragestudents and teachers to dig more deeply intotheir meanings thanthey wouldwith lower quality material.Texts selected for inclusion should be wellwritten and, asappropriate,richly illustrated. This principle applies equally to texts intended for readingaloud and texts forstudentsto read by themselves. (For samplesof appropriate quality ofselection, see Appendix B of the Common Core State Standards.)

4. Literacy programsshift the balance of textsand instructional time to include equalmeasures of literary and informational text. The standards call for elementary curriculummaterials to be recalibrated to reflecta mix of50 percentliterary and 50 percentinformationaltext, including reading in ELA, science, socialstudies, and the arts.Achievingthe appropriate balance between literary and informational textin the nextgeneration ofmaterials requires a significant shift in early literacy materials and instructional time sothatscientific and historical textaregiven the same time and weight as literary text.(Seep. 31 of the standards for details o how literature and informational texts are defined.)

In the last few years, informationaltexts that are rich and accessible to even first andsecond gradesare available although many more such texts are needed. Because studentsat thesegrades can listen to much morecomplex material than they can read themselves,read-aloud selections should beprovided for theteachers in thecurriculum materials.These should be at levels of complexity well above whatstudents can read on theirown.Scienceand social studies in particular should betaught in such way that students haveaccess to theconcepts and vocabulary through read-alouds beyondwhat they canreadontheirown.

To develop reading comprehension and vocabulary for all readers, the selectedinformationaltexts need to build a coherent body of knowledge within and across grades.(The sample series oftexts regarding “The Human Body” provided on p. 33 oftheCommonCore State Standards offers an exampleof selecting texts to build knowledgecoherentlywithin and acrossgrades. It includes bothgrade level texts andreadaloudtexts that illustrate the quality and complexity ofstudentreading in the standards.)

5. Additional materials aim to increase the regular independent reading of texts thatappeal to students’ interests while developing both their knowledge base andjoy inreading. These materials should ensure that all students have daily opportunities to read

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texts oftheirchoice on theirown during and outside ofthe school day. Students needaccess to widerangeof materials on variety of topics and genres both in theirclassroomsand in their school librariesto ensure that theyhave opportunitiestoindependently readbroadly andwidely tobuildtheir knowledge, experience, andjoy inreading. Materials will need to include texts at students’ own reading level as well as textswith complexity levels that will challenge and motivate students. Texts shouldalsovary inlength and density, requiring students to slow down or read more quickly depending ontheirpurpose forreading. In alignment with the standards and to acknowledge the rangeof students’ interests, these materials shouldinclude informationaltexts as wellasliterature.

III. Key Criteria for Questions and Tasks

Materials offered in support of reading comprehension should assist teachers and students instaying focused on the primary goal of instruction in these early years:developing proficientand fluent readers ableto learn independently from a wide variety of rich texts. The aim is forstudentsto understandthat thinking and reading occur simultaneously.Curricula should focusclassroom time on practicing reading, writing, speaking, and listening with high-quality textand text-dependent questions andomit that which would otherwise distract from achievingthose goals.

1. Questions and tasks cultivate students’ abilities toask and answer questions based onthe text.Materials that accompany texts should ask students to think about what theyhave read orheardandthenask them todraw evidence from the text insupport of theirideas about the reading. The standards strongly focuson studentsgathering evidence andknowledge from what theyread and therefore require that a majorityof questions andtasks thatchildren ask and respond to be based on the textunderconsideration. (This isequally truefor read-alouds students listentoas formaterial students read forthemselves.)

Student background knowledgeand experiences can illuminatethereading but should notreplace attention to the textitself. Questions and tasks should require thinking about thetextcarefully and finding evidence in the text itself to support the response.Discussiontasks, activities, questions, and writings following readings should draw on a full range ofinsights and knowledge contained in the text in terms of both content and language.Instructionalsupport materials should focus on posing questions and writing tasks thathelpstudents become interestedinthe text andcultivate student masteryof the specificdetails andideas of the text.

High quality text dependent questions are more often text specificrather than generic.That is, high quality questions should be developed to address the specific text being read,in responseto thedemands of that text. Good questions engage students to attend to theparticular dimensions, ideas,and specifics that illuminate each text. Though there is aproductive role for goodgeneral questions for teachers andstudents tohave at hand,materials should not over rely on "cookie-cutter"questionsthat could be asked of anytext, such as “Whatis the main idea? Provide three supporting details.” Materials shoulddevelopsequences of individually crafted questionsthat draw studentsand teachersintoan exploration of the textortexts athand.

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2. Materials provideopportunities for students to build knowledge throughclose readingof specific texts (including read-alouds).Materials should design opportunities for carefulreading ofselected passages ortexts and create a series ofquestions thatdemonstratehow close attention to thosereadings allows students to gather evidenceand buildknowledge. This approach can and should encourage the comparison and synthesis ofmultiple sources. Once each source is read or listenedtoand understood carefully,attention should begiven to integrating what students have just readwithwhat they haveread and learned previously. How does what they have just read compare to what theyhave learned before? Drawing upon relevant prior knowledge, how does the text expandor challenge that knowledge?

3. Scaffolds enableall students to experienceratherthan avoid the complexity of the text.Many students will need careful instruction — including effective scaffolding — to enablethem to read atthe level required by the Common Core State Standards. However, thescaffolding should not preempt or replace the text bytranslating itscontentsfor studentsor telling students what they are going tolearninadvance of reading or listening tothetext; the scaffolding should notbecome an alternate, simplersource ofinformation thatdiminishes the needfor students toread or listentothe textitselfcarefully.

Students’ initial exposureto text should often engagethem directly with thetext so theycan practice independent reading. Studentsshould be asked to glean theinformation theyneedfrom multiple readings of a text,each with a specific purpose.In particular, alignedcurriculum should explicitlydirect studentsto re-read challenging portions ofthe text andteachers to return to these portions in read-alouds.Follow-upsupport shouldguidereaders in the use ofappropriate strategies and habits when encountering places in thetextwhere they mightstruggle, including scaffolding the application of decodingstrategies, and pointing students back tothe textwith teachersupportwhen they areconfused or run into vocabulary or other problems.

When necessary, extra textual scaffolding prior to and during the first read should focuso words andconcepts that are essential toa basic understanding andthatstudents arenot likely toknow or be able todetermine from context. Supports shouldbe designedtoserve a wide range of readers, including those English language learnersand otherstudentswho are especially challenged by the complex text before them. Texts and thediscussionquestions shouldbe selectedandorderedsothat they bootstrapontoeachother andpromote deepthinking andsubstantive engagement withthe text. Care shouldalso betaken that introducing broad themes and questions in advance of reading doesnotprompt overly general conversations rather thanfocusing reading o the specifics,drawing evidence from the text, andgleaning meaning from it. Inshort, activities relatedto the textshould be such thatthe textitselfis the focusof the instruction and childrenareableto appreciateand get senseof theselection as whole.

4. Reading strategies support comprehensionof specific texts and the focus o buildingknowledge. Close reading andgathering knowledge from specific texts should be at theheart of classroom activities andnot be consignedtothe margins whencompletingassignments.Reading strategies should work in the service of reading comprehension(ratherthan an end unto themselves)and assist students in building knowledgefrom

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texts. To be effective, strategies should be introduced and exercised when they helpclarifya specificpart of a text and are dictated byspecificfeaturesof a text and especiallyto assistwith understandingmorechallengingsections. Over time, and throughsupportive discussion, interaction, and reflection, studentsneed to build an infrastructureof skills, habits, knowledge, dispositions, andexperience that enables them toapproachnew challenging texts with confidence and stamina.

5. Reading passages areby design centrallylocated within materials. The reading passagesin either the teachers’ guides or the students’ editions of curriculum materials should beeasily found and put at thecenter of thelayout so that teachers can select theappropriatetexts. The text should be the clear focus of student and teacher attention.Surrounding materials should bethoughtfully considered and justified as essential beforebeing included. The text shouldbe central, and surrounding materials should be includedonly whennecessary, soas not todistract from the text itself.

6. Materials offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure progress. Alignedmaterials should guide teachersto provide scaffolding to students butalso graduallyremove those supports by including tasks thatrequire students to demonstrate theirindependent capacity to read and write in every domain at the appropriate levelofcomplexityand sophistication. Activities usedfor assessment should clearly denote whatstandardsarebeing emphasized, and materials should offer frequent and easilyimplemented assessments, including systems for record keeping and follow-up.

7. Writing opportunities for students areprominent andvaried. The standards call forwriting both as means of communicating thinking and answering questions and as ameans of self-expression and exploration. Writing assignments should be varied and askstudentsto draw on their experience, on their imagination, and most frequently on thetexts they encounterthrough reading orread-alouds.As a means to such expressions, thestandardsrequire studentsin the early gradesto know their letters, phonetic conventions,sentence structures, spelling and the like. Acquiring these basic skills andtools along withregularopportunities to express themselves will enable students to engagein full rangeof writing, including writing narratives (bothreal andimagined), writing to inform, andwriting opinions.

CONCLUSION: TRANSPARENT RESEARCH AND PRACTICE BASE

Curriculum materials must alsohave a clear anddocumentedresearchbase. Curriculum offeredasan excellent match for theCommon CoreStateStandards should produceevidenceof its usabilityand efficacy with full rangeof students, including English languagelearners. In allmaterials,principles of reading acquisitionare explained, instructions toteachers andstudents are clear andconcise, and the relationship between tasksand the expected learning outcome isclear. Programsthatalready have a research base shouldbuildo that base bycontinuingto monitor their efficacywith the whole range of CommonCore State Standards.

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