Reading & Writing across the Curriculum: STEPS for the Common Core (Steps: Standard Themes for Educational Progress)

STEPS Standard Themes for Educational Progress is a series of manuals designed to help curriculum directors and teachers in PreK/K 12 schools as well as students, parents, outreach educators, grant writers and others with interests in standards-based education identify, organize, and teach state and national ( Common Core ) academic standards. A separate manual is prepared for each set of state and national standards in Mathematics, Reading and Writing, Science, and Social Studies, and all standards contained in each of these sets are included in the respective STEPS manual.

Within each manual, the appropriate state- and/or national-level standards have been grouped into themes and strands, and then aligned vertically and differentiated by grade level to show change and continuity among specific teaching/learning objectives ( indicators, standards, etc.) throughout the PreK/K 12 continuum. An accompanying matrix shows, for each theme and strand, the presence and number of standards or indicators expected to be taught in all grade levels or the absence of assigned standards or indicators for any given grade level. STEPS is a tool that is helpful for planning, instruction, differentiation, assessment, and professional development and, ultimately, for improving the education of the students whose PreK/K 12 experiences are enhanced by educators using these tools.

Reading & Writing across the Curriculum: STEPS for the Common Core presents vertically aligned themes, strands, and indicators, drawn from the 2010 National Common Core Grade-Level Standards for Reading & Writing. Each theme and strand is also aligned with the appropriate College and Career Readiness Standard.