Other Resources

Since the release of the Common Core State Standards in 2010, numerous groups, including the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center), and the lead writers of the standards, have developed resources and supporting materials to assist states, districts, schools, and educators with implementing the Common Core. The resources listed below are designed to help improve understanding of the standards and their underlying premises.

To learn more about state-specific implementation efforts, please visit the “Standards in Your State” page to explore the information states are providing about their work.

In addition to the resources they have developed jointly, CCSSO and the NGA Center separately support chiefs of state education agencies and governors, respectively. More information about their efforts is available at their websites:

• Council of Chief State School Officers
• National Governors Association Center for Best Practices

General Information

• “Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-Class Education” (National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and Achieve): Written prior to the development of the Common Core State Standards, this report provides states with a roadmap for benchmarking their K-12 education systems against those of top-performing nations, including the creation and implementation of common standards.
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Myths vs. Facts
• Three-minute Video that Explains the Standards (English) | (en Español)
• Application to Students with Disabilities
• Addendum for English Language Learners
• “Common Core State Standards: Insight into Their Development and Purpose”(David T. Conley, Common Core State Standards Validation Committee Co-Chair): Provides a summary of the rationale and development process of the Common Core, along with a summary of the research base supporting the standards and evidence for how the Common Core State Standards prepare students for college and careers.

English Language Arts and Literacy

• Key Shifts in English Language Arts: These shifts help explain how the Common Core differs from previous standards.
• Supplemental Information for Appendix A of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy: New Research on Text Complexity: This research review provides additional information on the text complexity emphasized in the Common Core.
• Publishers’ Criteria for the Common Core in ELA/literacy for Grades K-2 and Grades 3-12 provides criteria for selecting, developing, or revising instructional materials, textbooks, and other resources.
• 30 second video explaining the English Language Arts Standards (English) | (en Español)

Mathematics

• Key Shifts in Mathematics: These shifts help explain how the Common Core differs from previous standards.
• The Publishers’ Criteria for the Common Core for Mathematics for Grades K-8 and High School provides criteria for selecting, developing, or revising instructional materials, textbooks, and other resources
• 30 second video explaining the Math Standards (English) | (en Español)