A PhD student and I were looking the other day at the Common Core State Standards and how they related to credibility and source evaluation. They show up in Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6–12.

Here’s the standard for grades 6-8:

WHST 6-8.8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

And here’s the standard for grades 9-10:

WHST 9-10.8: Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

And here’s how it reads for grades 11-12:

WHST 11-12.8: Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the specific task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.

So in middle school, students assess credibility and accuracy. Tough job!

As underclassmen, students assess usefulness. Not bad, but “usefulness” isn’t typically part of the web credibility checklists we have, and “usefulness” sidesteps issues of bias, purpose, and authority.

As upperclassmen, students look at “strengths and limitations” of a source against the “specific task, purpose, and audience.”

Is it just us, or does this seem like a wonky sequence? Isn’t “usefulness” (9-10) easier to assess than “task, purpose, and audience” (11-12), with the toughest of all being the ability to assess credibility and accuracy (6-8)? How will you sort out your teaching on credibility or Web site evaluation accordingly? Or will you simply discuss this issue comprehensively in each grade level?

You can find these standards on page 66 of the CCSS’s ELA Standards.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 18th, 2012 at 7:55 am and is filed under Common Core. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.