Giving Compass' Take:

• The Common Core State Reading standards have shifted to offering more difficult non-fiction texts and are now assigned based on grade-level rather than reading level, making some students fall behind. 

• What can teachers do besides protesting to stop these changes in reading instruction? Why is it a significant switch from assigning texts by grade over reading level? 

• Read about the predictions for the next wave of teacher strikes. 

Five years after implementation of the Common Core State Standards in reading began in earnest, some instructional practices in reading have shifted for the better, while others — most notably teachers assigning texts based on reading level rather than grade level — have actually changed for the worse, a new report finds.

The Common Core State Standards encouraged a number of big changes in American reading instruction, including a shift to more complex texts, particularly nonfiction, and content-rich curriculum.

A little more than a quarter — 26 percent — of teachers surveyed for a new report by the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute said they assign texts based on grade level rather than reading level. That’s down from 38 percent in a 2012 Fordham survey, meaning that fewer struggling readers are being challenged to catch up to where they should be.

One potential explanation for the marked uptick is that “nearly half of teachers say ‘not enough’ attention has been paid to ‘diagnosing and addressing the challenges posed by a text,’ ” the report authors wrote. Struggling readers can access grade-level texts with appropriate help from teachers, like early introductions of potentially tricky vocabulary words or “bread-crumbing” questions that help lead students through text, study author David Griffith, Fordham’s senior policy associate, told The 74.

The Common Core State Standards is a group of benchmarks for reading and math, developed by state leaders through the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers. Forty-one states, the District of Columbia, and the Defense Department’s school system have adopted and are currently using both the reading and math standards; a few states adopted and later revoked them.

Read the full article about Common Core State Standards for reading by Carolyn Phenicie at Home |The 74