Integrating Common Core Standards

CA

Hill, R. (2010).  All aboard!  School Library Journal, 58(4), 26-30. 

In this article, the author discusses the impact and meaning of the new Common Core standards for school librarians.  Although school librarians weren’t included in the decision-making process about the new standards, their role in implementing them is critical.  Due to Common Core’s emphasis on higher level reading, librarians have the potential to increase their relevance through the instruction of critical thinking and information literacy skills.  Further, Common Core’s focus on informational, non-fiction texts also presents librarians with an opportunity to expand and re-focus their libraries’ collections. The author encourages librarians to weed out materials that are outdated and irrelevant and focus on finding new and in-depth non-fiction materials.  Librarians must also learn to step out of their traditional comfort zone by helping students expand their comprehension skills, another focus of Common Core.  The author points out that this additional task falls easily in line with librarians’ traditional work, though, since they have long helped students create big picture connections to what they read.  The author encourages librarians to take advantage of their unique relationship with students, using even brief conversations as teaching moments.   Lastly, she encourages collaboration with teachers and emphasizes the need for librarians to leave their libraries and bridge the gap with the faculty, strengthening the library’s connections to the curriculum and reminding teachers of the library’s many resources and forms of additional support. 

All in all, this article provided useful information about the implementation of Common Core and how librarians can embrace its changes.  However, further details and creative thinking about how to integrate the standards in a fresh, meaningful way would have been helpful.