Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Common Core dilemma Common core and the state standards have pretty much generalized the ELA classroom to a set of critical reading, writing, and communication skills rather than any specific content. As a reaction to this, my school replaced previous assessments that tested "content" (a test over a novel or over a short story unit) with assessments that test skills. So, many tests are now made up of almost all cold reads. There is virtually no way to student for our tests now. Students have recognized this and are not valuing classroom work assigned to strengthen these skills because the content won't be tested. Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) I would work with your team members to embed stories that support each skill and find short reading passages that correlate with the story that week. The students can increase their knowledge of the content through the practice of the skills and apply them on the reading passages.