Alignment: What's Happening in Your District?

As we've been talking to ELL educators around the country, we're hearing a common (no pun intended) theme – teachers are buried in the paperwork of CCSS alignment. Often, this is a result of a cart-before-the-horse reality: Common Core implementation is happening before states have had a chance to publish, update, or align "official" documents based on the new standards, particularly English language proficiency standards. Consequently, teachers are in a position of cobbling together guidelines for instruction based on multiple versions of their state’s documents.

We've spoken with teachers who are being asked to use the state's current reading and math standards while easing in the CCSS and also figuring out how the ELP standards adopted under No Child Left Behind fit into the picture.

Has this been your experience?  If so, what strategies or guidelines are helping you figure it all out?  What’s your advice for other teachers in the same boat? We’d love to hear from you!