Prioritizing the Common Core: Identifying Specific Standards to Emphasize the Most

by Larry Ainsworth

The consensus among educators nationwide is that in-depth instruction paired with focused assessment of essential concepts and skills are far more effective than superficially covering every concept and skill in the standards. Educators are faced with the task of teaching all standards while meeting the extraordinary range of student learning needs. Prioritizing the Common Core offers common sense solutions to the dilemmas teachers face today in implementing the new, more rigorous national standards. Chapters present a rationale for prioritizing the Common Core, a step-by-step process for prioritizing standards in language arts and mathematics, strategies for soliciting feedback and input from everyone in the district or school prior to the final determination of the Priority Standards, and detailed summaries of the process schools in six different districts used to identify their Priority Standards, with accompanying commentary by those who directed the work.

184 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2013

About the author

Larry Ainsworth is the author or co-author of more than 20 books, including his most popular titles: Rigorous Curriculum Design; Common Formative Assessments 2.0; Prioritizing Common Core State Standards; Power Standards; “Unwrapping” Common Core State Standards, and “Unwrapping” the Standards.

Larry’s comprehensive new book series, Integrating Teaching and Learning: “Timeless Essentials” for Creating Integrated Units of Study (2024), explains and illustrates in detail how PK-12 educators can develop quality units of study that intentionally align standards, assessments, instruction, and data analysis to positively impact student learning.

Currently an independent author-consultant, Larry served as the Executive Director of Professional Development at The Leadership and Learning Center in Englewood, Colorado, from 1999 to 2013. He traveled nationally and internationally to assist school systems in implementing best practices related to standards, assessment, curriculum, and instruction across all grades and content areas. Throughout his career as an education consultant, Larry has delivered keynote addresses and breakout sessions across North America and in Argentina and Switzerland, and regularly worked on-site and virtually to assist leaders and educators in understanding and implementing “timeless” education practices in all content areas, pre-kindergarten through grade 12.

Drawing upon 24 years of experience as an upper elementary and middle school classroom teacher in demographically diverse schools in several U.S. states, Larry brings a varied background and wide range of professional experiences to each of his presentations.

Reviews

[Ems Loves to Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in preparation for prioritizing the standards in my district. Lots of very helpful suggestions and routes to take as we go about this. Was it useful? Definitely. Would I read it again? Definitely not. 😉😉