The Alignment of Textbooks to the Common Core

• In Event: National Standards and Curricula: Challenges Here and Abroad

Abstract

Since the adoption of the Common Core standards in 45 states, textbook companies have begun making claims of alignment. However, these claims have rarely, if ever, been vetted using rigorous alignment methodologies. This paper applies the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum, a widely used content alignment methodology, to the alignment of seven state- and Common Core-aligned texts. The work demonstrates the feasibility of the alignment techniques for this purpose, and it also shows substantial areas of misalignment between texts and standards. In particular, the texts emphasize lower-level skills than are found in the standards and cover more content than is specified in the standards. Implications for policy are discussed.

Author

• Morgan S. Polikoff, University of Southern California