Understanding the Common Core's Effects on Curriculum

Nebraska may not have adopted the Common Core, but it's important for Nebraska's education community to stay informed of how it will impact curriculum content being produced by publishers. National Public Radio has a two-part series explaining the process.

One piece that's important to understand is that the standards are truly a state-by-state, governor- and state board selected project.

The Common Core State Standards. They aren't federal. Washington's not on the hook here. States are. Governors signed on — Democrats and Republicans alike — because they saw something necessary and ambitious. And implementing ambitious is never easy.

"We should not be surprised that this is hard, but that doesn't mean we should walk away from it," says Mary Cullinane, the chief content officer for — one of the top educational publishers.

As has historically been the case with many curricular decisions adopted by big states, an impact on textbook content is inevitable. Thus, regardless of Nebraska's choosing to opt out of adopting the standards, it is likely that textbooks available for purchase by schools will reflect the new standards.

Part one, which discusses the curriculum void, is available in audio and text format here. 

NPR has also produced a helpful FAQ on the Common Core, here.

To view the core standards in their entirety, visit http://www.corestandards.org/.