How COMMON is the Common Core?

Today was a good start to the new Common Core Algebra 2 curriculum. But, I am left with a question to share with you...

How COMMON is the Common Core?

I have been struck with this up-until-now rhetorical question since the Common Core came out. If states can choose to adopt the Common Core, states can choose what parts of the Common Core they adopt, and states can elect to drop out of the Common Core, just how COMMON will this Core be? For the PARCC assessment, states involved in this consortium can choose certain assessments that they want to give. (Others will be mandated.) Just how COMMON is the assessment for learning the Common Core Standards, then?

Those have been questions I have been muddling around for a while. The "How Common is the Common Core?" question was renewed in my mind as I drove home today. My curriculum writers spent much of the time today unpacking the common core standards for Algebra 2. Why, if the Common Core is so common, are we having to unpack and analyze the standards? We are writing our curriculum using the Understanding by Design approach developed by Wiggins and McTighe. Part of writing a unit and lesson using this design is to unpack the objectives. However, as my writers began to unpack the Common Core Standards, I realized just how vague and open to interpretation these standards are. Throughout the day my writers asked questions like, "How far do we take the content under this standard?" and "What part of this standard are they learning in Algebra 1 and in Honors College Algebra, so that we don't go too far or not far enough in Algebra 2?" and "What exactly is meant by a 'modeling' standard?" These questions echoed in my brain as I drove home. Then, I reflected on the fact that the Maryland State Department of Education developed a Framework for Algebra2, which included cluster notes, skills and knowledge statements, and other such clarifications. PARCC just released spreadsheets explaining the Midyear Evaluations and the End of Year Evaluations, and included in these spreadsheets are clarification statements. Progression Documents have come out of the University of Arizona in an attempt (a beautiful attempt, that is) to explain how the standards span over the grades and courses. If all of these documents, consortia, committees, boards, etc. are coming together to unpack and interpret the Standards, just how COMMON will the Common Core be? A brief glance through all the documents and resources I just listed will show quite a range of publishing dates and the word 'draft' is very prominent on many of them. As I type this, I am reminded of when I spoke with several teachers back in April 2013 at the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics conference in Denver. They claim to have been 'already teaching the Common Core for two years'. Really? How is that possible when the testing consortia are still moving content and Standards around?

So I am left with the question that I hope you will take the time to answer...

How COMMON is the Common Core?