By Peg Glisson
We've been hearing for years that American students are falling behind those in other countries. Many read below grade level and graduate with the ability to read at an eighth grade level at best. A variety of educational philosophies and practices have tried unsuccessfully to close the gap. And now, there's Common Core-it's being written about in newspapers, blogs, and even Twitter; it's being talked about on TV and radio. What is it? And what does it mean for public libraries?
The state-led Common Core Initiative, adopted by 45 states, the District of Columbia, and 3 territories, currently address English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics and will be developed for Science and Social Studies. In a nutshell, the ELA Standards, which address reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language, call for students, as young as Kindergarteners, to read more complex text and a higher percentage of nonfiction, to think analytically, to synthesize and apply what they have read to real world situations. It also makes the point that literacy doesn't apply just to ELA; it applies to everything! Students will progress through a "staircase of complexity" of reading matter over the years, at least 50% of which will be nonfiction, to allow the development of the skill, concentration, and stamina needed to read and understand complex expository text, whether in college or on the job.
While public libraries' mission is different from that of a school, they do support the work of the schools, primarily through their collections but in other ways as well. Staff is often called on to help parents and youth find materials needed for school reading and projects. Teachers come looking for books to use in their classrooms. Many libraries, especially in urban areas, provide homework help. As these library users express their needs, it's important that youth services librarians have a working familiarity with Common Core's language, philosophy and goals to best serve parents, students, and teachers who use their libraries. Like it or not, this major shift in educational practice will impact public libraries' collection, services, and programming.
First, public librarians need to know the talk. Rigor, rich text, staircase of complexity, lexile, inquiry based learning, task, essential understanding . . . what do these mean? If you don't know, find out! Visit sites like corestandards.org and http://engageny.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/common-core-shifts.pdf; read professional journals such as School Library Journal and Book Links; talk to teachers and school librarians.
Let's think about implications for the children's and YA collections. As students move from their current reading split of 80% fiction/narrative text and 20% nonfiction to a 50/50% split of fiction and nonfiction, libraries will need to beef up their age-appropriate, readable nonfiction collections. We have seen an explosion in the publishing of younger nonfiction, much of it in series, to address this developing need. The standards call for rich, rigorous vocabulary in both nonfiction and fiction. When selecting nonfiction, it will be important to consider not only subject matter and reading levels, but also language. Dumbing down is out! Vocabulary that resonates and complex meaning is the new norm, as is the reading and re-reading for meaning that such text requires.
The demand for rich, rigorous text has implications for fiction as well. Many of the core novels currently used in many classrooms, particularly in middle and high schools, are too low level. Librarians can help teachers become aware of titles that would fit the bill and appeal to this age reader. Children and teens will not be able to meet the Core's writing demands without having had exposure to great writers in a wide variety of genres.
Picture books are still needed for read-alouds at all levels. The emphasis on reading, writing, and math is leading teachers to search for quality picture books to help them integrate social studies and science into the core subjects. At the lower grades, teachers seek picture books not only to read aloud but also to give to students to read themselves. Again, they want rich language, at the right lexile, for these books.
Having lexile levels included in OPAC records will help students, parents, and teachers choose the right books for assignments. Of course, task or purpose for reading and the complexity of language also contribute to the rigor of a text. Librarians, with their expertise, can speak to all three. CLCD allows users to limit searches by lexile, interest level, and age or grade-making the search for those perfect books much easier! The reviews displayed in CLCD help librarians judge the language used by the author and ascertain if the book meets Common Core criteria.
Youth librarians have a vast knowledge of fiction for their level user. It is imperative that they continue to choose fiction that will draw young folks to reading. Providing books for leisure reading is a major task of the public library. Let us not forget reading for enjoyment as well as information! As librarians serving youth know, many young people enjoy reading informational text, some more than literary pieces. Common Core is urging that ALL students read a true balance of informational text and literature and become strong readers and writers of both.
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