Seven Traps of the Common Core State Standards

Using sociologist C. Wright Mill's analogy of the trap, this piece invites readers to think about the Common Core State Standards beyond the classroom, outward toward its historical and political context. The traps describe the connection between larger social issues related to the implementation of the Common Core and changes at the classroom level with immediate impact on teachers' and students' daily lives. Within the analysis of the seven traps is critical examination of the production of both the Common Core and the Publisher's Criteria and how the documents represent literacy generally, reading and writing specifically, and children's literature. The analysis positions both documents as open and changeable texts waiting for the thoughtful input of teachers, parents, community members, and students.