Skip to main content

Common Core State Standards

The Common Core State Standards define the knowledge and skills students must develop during their K-12 education careers so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs. The standards are aligned with college and work expectations; are clear, understandable and consistent; include rigorous content and application of knowledge through higher-order skills; build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards; are informed by other top performing countries so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society; and are evidence-based.

The California Collaborative has been on the forefront of Common Core adoption and implementation efforts, and recognizes the essential roles of standards, assessments, and instruction in maximizing learning opportunities for students. Our district leaders guide promising capacity building efforts at the local level and the Collaborative and has been actively engaged in building the knowledge base and sharing best practices among our members and with districts across the state.

February 2014

February 2014 The California Collaborative on District Reform co-sponsored a pair of symposia called Moving Forward with Common Core State Standards: Fostering a Learning Culture for English Learners and their Teachers, one held in Irvine on… Read More

December 2013

December 2013 Presentations at the California Educational Research Association (CERA) conference on December 5th and 6th highlighted recent publications from the California Collaborative.  The first presentation drew parallels between Common… Read More

November 2013

November 2013 The California Collaborative on District Reform co-sponsored a pair of symposia called Moving Forward with Common Core State Standards: Harnessing the Power of Technology, one held in San Jose on November 12 and the other held in… Read More

June 2013

June 2013 The California Collaborative on District Reform co-sponsored a symposium on June 25 and 26 in Los Angeles called Moving Forward: Common Core State Standards Implementation and Assessment. The event, which brought together district… Read More

June 2013

June 2013 Three recent events addressing assessment and the Common Core featured one of the Collaborative’s recent briefs, Learning from the Past: Exploring California’s CLAS Experience to Inform Assessment of the Common Core. Student assessment… Read More

August 2012

August 2012 The California Collaborative on District Reform co-sponsored a symposium on August 14 and 15 called Collaborating for Success: Implementing the Common Core State Standards in California. The event, which brought together district… Read More

April 2011

April 2011 On April 29, 2011, the PACE seminar series in Sacramento featured representatives from the California Collaborative on District Reform and EdSource to address 8th grade mathematics placement and achievement. California Collaborative… Read More

February 2016

Kenji Hakuta, Professor of Education at Stanford University, is hosting a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) this spring on NovoEd called Constructive Classroom Conversations: Mastering Language for College and Career Readiness. This course focuses… Read More

September 2015

In response to the highly anticipated results of the first Smarter Balanced administration, State Board of Education President Mike Kirst shares his impressions of the scores in the San Francisco Chronicle. Kirst first emphasizes the importance of… Read More

August 2015

A new book chapter from Collaborative Chair Jennifer O’Day describes how California’s solutions to troublesome policies and funding structures have positioned the state to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) well. In “A Window of… Read More

August 2015

A new report from the American Institutes for Research, co-authored by the Collaborative’s deputy director Joel Knudson, tells the story of how the CORE Districts came into existence and designed their early work together. The report documents the… Read More

January 2015

In an article in the Sacramento Bee, Mike Kirst, president of the State Board of Education, warns that state assessments scores are bound to exhibit an initial dip when the state first administers new Common Core-aligned tests this spring. He… Read More

November 2014

In a commentary piece for EdSource Arun Ramanathan, CEO of Pivot Learning Partners, argues that the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) and the Common Core State Standards offer an opportunity to press restart on our education system by… Read More

October 2014

Kenji Hakuta, Professor of Education at Stanford University, will offer two Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) this fall, crafted to help educators and administrators support students’ language and content learning in light of the Common Core State… Read More

June 2014

Collaborative members Arun Ramanathan, CEO of Pivot Learning Partners, and Rick Miller, Executive Director of the California Office to Reform Education, spoke as panelists at a conference hosted by the Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE… Read More

March 2014

Dr. Rose Owens-West, Director of the Region IX Equity Assistance Center at WestEd, urges education players to keep sight of achieving equity when implementing Common Core State Standards in a webinar entitled We Can Achieve Equity Through… Read More

March 2014

Kenji Hakuta, Professor of Education at Stanford University, will offer several free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) this spring to focus on supporting the language demands of the Common Core State Standards. A pair of courses (one geared for… Read More

February 2014

Aída Walqui, Director of the Teacher Professional Development Program at WestEd, delivered a keynote speech at two recent symposia about the needs of English Learners (ELs) in the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Walqui set… Read More

September 2013

Kenji Hakuta, Professor of Education at Stanford University, has announced the launch of a free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for teachers called “Constructive Classroom Conversations: Mastering the Language of the Common Core”.  Through this… Read More

August 2013

In an op-ed appearing in the San Francisco Chronicle, Mike Kirst argued that California’s adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is only the first of many challenging yet critical steps to ensuring that students leave high school… Read More

June 2013

Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) Superintendent Jonathan Raymond delivered a keynote speech at a recent symposium on district-level implementation and assessment of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).  Raymond discussed SCUSD’s… Read More

May 2013

In a recent Sacramento Bee op-ed article, Collaborative member Mike Kirst and California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson argue that California should not delay its implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).  Kirst… Read More

March 2013

Mike Kirst, president of the California State Board of Education and Professor Emeritus of Education and Business Administration at Stanford University, authored a policy memorandum outlining the impact of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) on… Read More

August 2012

Collaborative member Kenji Hakuta has co-authored a policy brief from the Policy Analysis for California Education research center, How Next-Generation Standards and Assessments Can Foster Success for California’s English Learners. The report builds… Read More

April 2012

The Understanding Language initiative has launched a new website and online community atell.stanford.edu. The initiative, co-chaired by California Collaborative member Kenji Hakuta, aims to investigate, raise awareness about, and address the role of… Read More

April 2011

California Collaborative member Kenji Hakuta will co-chair a two-year effort to develop a framework for the English-language demands of the Common Core State Standards. With $2 million in support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the… Read More

June 2015 - June 2015

Meeting 28
June 18-19, 2014
Whittier, California The California Collaborative on District Reform convened in Whittier for a two-day meeting, Assessment and Teacher Leadership in the Transition to the Common Core. The Collaborative… Read More