Beyond Core Expectations
This book demonstrates a system-wide approach for educators to support the academic challenges of culturally, linguistically and academically diverse students.
- Grade Level: PreK-12
- ISBN: 9781483331928
- Published By: Corwin
- Year: 2014
- Page Count: 144
- Publication date: June 05, 2014
Review Copies
Review copies may be requested by individuals planning to purchase 10 or more copies for a team or considering a book for adoption in a higher ed course. To request a review copy, contact sales@corwin.com.
Description
Create a schoolwide foundation to ensure academic success for ALL students
This useful guide supports the needs of culturally, linguistically, and academically diverse learners and demonstrates how a shared vision can increase student engagement and ensure that not-so-common learners benefit from academic rigor.
Taking a system-wide approach, the authors offer educators a model arranged in six distinct yet complementary pathways to improve programs, policies, and practices for diverse learners. This innovative framework includes:
- Mapping and aligning an integrated curriculum—making the mainstream curricula accessible for all learners
- Collaborative planning and assessment—pooling intelligence so the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
- Teaching students explicit learning strategies—empowering students by increasing student-led learning
- Promoting disciplinary literacy—providing all students with access to pertinent academic language learning
Featuring helpful tables that outline key concepts and real-life vignettes from schools that have successfully applied the principles, this book unlocks success for all students.
“Dove, Honigsfeld, and Cohan recognize the urgent need for practices to change on a schoolwide basis so that diverse learners can be positioned to succeed with the Common Core. This book outlines inclusive practices so that all students are included in these important conversations.”
—Diane Staehr Fenner, President
DSF Consulting
"In Beyond Core Expectations, the authors present a coherent framework for schoolwide instructional inclusiveness. This book is an essential guide for educators with a vision for true college and career readiness for ALL students, driven by sound curriculum, instruction and assessment practices."
—Cheryl H. Champ, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction
Sewanhaka Central High School District, Floral Park, NY
Key features
2. Grounded in research findings and practice-based evidence that offer further support for each of the shifts;
3. Includes brief case studies as examples of exceptional practices already in place in diverse schools around the US.
4. Presents summaries of essential features of model practices to look for.
5. The perfect complement to "Common Core for the Not So Common Learner," the schoolwide focus of this concise guide will help education professionals commit to a shared vision and assume collective responsibility for every student including English learners and students with disabilities.
Author(s)

Maria G. Dove

Andrea Honigsfeld
Andrea Honigsfeld, EdD, is Professor in the School of Education at Molloy University, Rockville Centre, New York. Before entering the field of teacher education, she was an English-as-a-foreign-language teacher in Hungary (Grades 5–8 and adult) and an English-as-a-second-language teacher in New York City (Grades K–3 and adult). She also taught Hungarian at New York University. She was the recipient of a doctoral fellowship at St. John’s University, New York, where she conducted research on individualized instruction and learning styles. She has published extensively on working with English language learners and providing individualized instruction based on learning style preferences. She received a Fulbright Award to lecture in Iceland in the fall of 2002. In the past twelve years, she has been presenting at conferences across the United States, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates.
She coauthored Differentiated Instruction for At-Risk Students (2009) and co-edited the five-volume Breaking the Mold of Education series (2010–2013), published by Rowman and Littlefield. She is also the co-author of Core Instructional Routines: Go-To Structures for Effective Literacy Teaching, K–5 and 6–12 (2014), published by Heinemann. With Maria Dove, she co-edited Coteaching and Other Collaborative Practices in the EFL/ESL Classroom: Rationale, Research, Reflections, and Recommendations (2012) and co-authored Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Learners (2010), Common Core for the Not-So-Common Learner, Grades K–5: English Language Arts Strategies (2013), Common Core for the Not-So-Common Learner, Grades 6–12: English Language Arts Strategies (2013), Beyond Core Expectations: A Schoolwide Framework for Serving the Not-So-Common Learner (2014), Collaboration and Co-Teaching: A Leader’s Guide (2015), Coteaching for English Learners: A Guide to Collaborative Planning, Instruction, Assessment, and Reflection (2018), Collaborating for English Learners: A Foundational Guide to Integrated Practices (2019), Co-Planning: 5 Essential Practices to Integrate Curriculum and Instruction for English Learners (2022). She is a contributing author of Breaking Down the Wall: Essential Shifts for English Learner Success (2020), From Equity Insights to Action (2021), and Digital-Age Teaching for English Learners (2022). Nine of her Corwin books are bestsellers.

Audrey Cohan
Dr. Audrey Cohan is the Senior Dean for Research, Scholarship, and Graduate Studies at Molloy University, Rockville Centre, New York. She has been at Molloy University for twenty-nine years during which time she served as Professor, Chairperson of the Education Department, and Interim Dean for the Division of Natural Sciences. Dr. Cohan has taught in the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs. She began her career as a special education teacher in New York City working with students with special needs in both self-contained and resource room settings. Her first book, published in 1995, was titled Sexual Harassment and Sexual Abuse: A Handbook for Teachers and Administrators. This co-authored book was an outgrowth of her dissertation work, which focused on child sexual abuse within schools. Dr. Cohan co-edited a five-volume Breaking the Mold series about educational innovation with Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld and has published numerous peer-reviewed articles about English language learners. The textbook published in 2016, Serving English Language Learners earned the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) Most Promising New Textbook Award. Her other co-authored book publications include Beyond Core Expectations: A Schoolwide Framework for Serving the Not-So-Common Learner (2014), America’s Peace-minded Educator: John Dewey (2016), Team Up, Speak Up, Fire Up! Educators, Students, and the Community Working Together to Support English Learners (2020), and From Equity Insights to Action (2022). While at Molloy University, Dr. Cohan has been the recipient of the Faculty Leadership Award, the Faculty Recognition Award, the Molloy University Research Award, and the Distinguished Service Award.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Preface
1. A Shared and Inclusive Vision and Mission
At a Glance
An Inclusive, Collaboratively Developed Vision and Mission
The Rationale
Evidence in Support of a Shared Vision and Mission
Promising Practices
The Looks Fors
The Complexities of Literacy
Something to Remember
Key Resources
2. Schoolwide Displinary Literacy
At a Glance
The Intricacies of Academic Language
The Rationale
The Evidence
The Look Fors
Promising Practices
Something to Remember
Key Resources
3. The mapping and Alignment of an Integrated Curriculum
At a Glance
Core Curriculum Development
The Rationale
The Evidence
Promising Practices
The Look Fors
Something to Remember
Key Resources
4. Collaborative Planning, Instruction, and Assessment
At a Glance
Why Collaboration is an Essential Practice
The Rationale
The Evidence
Promising Practices
The Look Fors
Something to Remember
Key Resources
5. Teaching Students Explicit Learning Strategies
At a Glance
Explicit Instruction
The Rationale
The Evidence
Promising Practices
The Look Fors
Something to Remember
Key Resources
6. Student Engagment
At a Glance
Student Engagement
The Rationale
The Evidence
Promising Practices
The Look Fors
Something to Remember
Key Resources
Final Thoughts
References
Reviews
"Dove, Honigsfeld, and Cohan recognize the urgent need for practices to change on a schoolwide basis so that diverse learners can be positioned to succeed with the Common Core. Beyond Core Expectations: a Schoolwide Framework for Serving the Not-So-Common Learner outlines inclusive practices so that all students – English learners, students with disabilities, and other marginalized groups – are included in these important conversations. The book’s practical toolkit provides educators with ample opportunities to evaluate and collaborate around ways in which they can provide a more equitable learning environment for their diverse students. I highly recommend this book to those who wish to ensure that all students’ strengths and needs are considered during the implementation of the Common Core."
Diane Staehr Fenner, President"Dove, Honigsfeld, and Cohan recognize the urgent need for practices to change on a schoolwide basis so that diverse learners can be positioned to succeed with the Common Core. Beyond Core Expectations: a Schoolwide Framework for Serving the Not-So-Common Learner outlines inclusive practices so that all students – English learners, students with disabilities, and other marginalized groups – are included in these important conversations. The book’s practical toolkit provides educators with ample opportunities to evaluate and collaborate around ways in which they can provide a more equitable learning environment for their diverse students. I highly recommend this book to those who wish to ensure that all students’ strengths and needs are considered during the implementation of the Common Core."
DSF Consulting, Washington D.C.
"Common Core for the Not-So-Common Learner provides a masterfully blend of instructional practices with a deep understanding of the CCSS, and presents them in a way that makes sense to educators on the front lines of implementation. In Beyond Core Expectations, Dove, Honigsfeld, and Cohan work to the next level by presenting a coherent framework for schoolwide instructional inclusiveness. This book is an essential guide for educators with a vision for true college and career readiness for ALL students, driven by sound curriculum, instruction and assessment practices."
Cheryl H. Champ, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction"Common Core for the Not-So-Common Learner provides a masterfully blend of instructional practices with a deep understanding of the CCSS, and presents them in a way that makes sense to educators on the front lines of implementation. In Beyond Core Expectations, Dove, Honigsfeld, and Cohan work to the next level by presenting a coherent framework for schoolwide instructional inclusiveness. This book is an essential guide for educators with a vision for true college and career readiness for ALL students, driven by sound curriculum, instruction and assessment practices."
Sewanhaka Central High School District, Floral Park, NY
Review Copies
Review copies may be requested by individuals planning to purchase 10 or more copies for a team or considering a book for adoption in a higher ed course. To request a review copy, contact sales@corwin.com.
Related Resources
- Access to companion resources is available with the purchase of this book.