Globalizing the Common Core State Standards
Project Director: Kathy Short (UA).
In collaboration with: UA College of Education.
This project addresses the outdated and ethnocentric cultural perspectives in the lists of exemplars of text complexity used in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), lists which are often used as core reading lists that do not reflect the kinds of cultural and global literacy needed in today’s world. The project created carefully constructed grade-level lists of global fiction and nonfiction literature that match the required lexile levels. Of particular interest are books that include some use of a world language through codeswitching in dialogue or in terminology for objects, events, etc., since these books can foster interest in LCTLs (which are rarely taught in elementary schools) even at this young age. Books that can be used as paired texts with the existing books in the exemplar lists have been identified so that teachers required to use the original CCSS lists would be able to still use the global texts alongside them. The new book lists are free for download, and in-service professional development opportunities for local teachers and a summer institute for a national audience will support teachers in integrating these books into their curriculum while meeting the CCSS.