"As challenging as it must have been to write and finesse the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, that accomplishment is nothing compared to the work of teaching in ways that bring all students to these ambitious expectations. The goal is clear. The pathway is not."
-Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman

The Common Core is written, but the plan for implementing the Common Core is not.

Lucy Calkins and her colleagues at the Reading and Writing Project have helped thousands of educators design their own pathways to the Common Core. Now, with Pathways to the Common Core, they are ready to help you find your way.

Designed for teachers, school leaders, and professional learning communities looking to navigate the gap between their current literacy practices and the ideals of the Common Core, Pathways to the Common Core will help you:
* understand what the standards say, suggest, and what they don't say;
* recognize the guiding principles that underpin the reading and writing standards;
* identify how the Common Core's infrastructure supports a spiraling K-12 literacy curriculum; and
* scrutinize the context in which the CCSS were written and are being unrolled.

In addition to offering an analytical study of the standards, this guide will also help you and your colleagues implement the standards in ways that lift the level of teaching and learning throughout your school. Specifically, it will help you:
* become a more critical consumer of the "standards-based" mandates that are flooding your desk;
* craft instruction that supports students in reading more complex texts, developing higher level
comprehension skills, and writing at the ambitious levels of the CCSS;
* develop performance assessments and other tools to propel Common Core reforms; and
* create systems of continuous improvement that are transparent, collegial, and accountable.

Above all, this book will help you interpret the Common Core as a rallying cry that ignites deep, wide and lasting reforms and, most importantly, accelerates student achievement.

For more information, visit UnitsofStudy.com.

Lucy Calkins is the Founding Director of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. For more than thirty years, she has led the Project in its dual functions as a think tank, developing state-of-the-art teaching methods, and a provider of professional development, supporting hundreds of thousands of teachers, principals, superintendents, and policy-makers across the country and around the world. Lucy is the author or coauthor - and series editor - of the reading, writing, and phonics Units of Study series, which are integral to classroom life in tens of thousands of schools around the world. In addition, she has authored scores of professional books and articles. Lucy is also the Robinson Professor of Children's Literature at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she co-directs the Literacy Specialist Program. Her latest professional books include Teaching Writing and Leading Well. Visit UnitsofStudy.com Order Resources by Lucy Calkins

Mary Ehrenworth, Senior Deputy Director of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project and co-editor for the Units of Study for Teaching Reading, Middle School series, works with schools and districts around the globe, and is a frequent keynote speaker at Project events and national and international conferences. Mary's interest in critical literacies, deep interpretation, and reading and writing for social justice all inform the books she has authored or co-authored in the Reading and Writing Units of Study series as well as her many articles and other books on instruction and leadership. You can connect with her on Twitter @MaryEhrenworth.

Christopher Lehman is the Founding Director of The Educator Collaborative, a think tank and educational consulting organization working to innovate the ways educators learn together. He is an international speaker, education consultant, and New York Times best-selling author. His books include: Falling In Love With Close Reading with Kate Roberts; Energize Research Reading and Writing; Pathways to the Common Core with Lucy Calkins and Mary Ehrenworth; and A Quick Guide to Reviving Disengaged Writers. His articles and interviews have appeared in many publications and popular blogs including Voices in the Middle, SmartBrief, EdWeek, Choice Literacy, and Talks with Teachers. Chris has been a middle-school teacher, a high-school teacher, a literacy coach, and Senior Staff Developer with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. He now works with schools around the world through The Educator Collaborative, supporting educators, coaches, and administrators in developing rigorous and passionate literacy instruction across content areas. A graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison, Chris went on to receive his M.A. in Teaching at New York University, and his Ed.M. in Education Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University. In addition to consulting and writing, he serves on the NCTE Middle Level Section Steering Committee, is Special Advisor to the National Center for Families Learning, is a Booksource Advocate for student reading lives, and served as a project advisor on a joint NCTE/National Center for Literacy Education collaboration initiative. Follow Chris online! Twitter: @iChrisLehman Pinterest: /ChrisLehmanEdu Blog: ChristopherLehman.com