"We open up the Common Core State Standards process and product, revealing that both are constructions-partial and value laden. With this understanding, we hope readers will step forward to take active roles in the discussion of why CCSS as well as how CCSS." -Patrick Shannon Common Core is on everyone's lips. We all want answers about implementation and integration as well as about what constitutes "close reading" or "text complexity." But who is asking the big questions: Common to whom? Core of what? Standards toward what end? Closer Readings of the Common Core finally asks and answers those questions. Patrick Shannon convenes a conversation among some of the most respected members of the field. They examine the history and content of the standards, teasing out their implications for teachers and classrooms, critiquing their assumptions about students and learning, and looking at their portent for American education now and in the future. With compelling analysis from Shannon, Peggy Albers, Randy Bomer, Catherine Compton-Lilly, Curt Dudley-Marling, Elizabeth Jaeger, Marjorie Orellana, Sandra Wilde, and Maja Wilson, teachers, school leaders, and policy makers will have the understanding necessary to avoid passively receiving mandates. Instead they'll be able to ensure that instructional decision making remains meaningful and well-informed.