Contact:
Alexandra Wladich
Scholastic Inc.
212-965-7353
awladich@scholastic.com

NEW YORK, NY — May 2, 2013 — Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today announced the release of Common Core Code X™, a comprehensive English language arts curriculum for middle school built specifically to address the rigorous demands of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and ensure success for students on the Next Generation assessments. Developed with input from the New York City Department of Education, Code X was recently listed as an approved curriculum for use in their middle schools district-wide.

Designed to ensure that students become deep readers and measured writers, Code X is built around a series of workshops that challenge students as they work toward each workshop’s culminating performance task. In those performance tasks, students are asked to read, think, analyze, synthesize, question, cite evidence, argue, debate, and write every day. Code X was created for English language arts instruction in Grades 6-8, and it can also be used in conjunction with a reading intervention program like READ 180 for struggling readers.

Code X moves teachers from theory to practice of the Common Core with rich texts and resources to enhance their understanding and teaching. It ensures that teachers have professional learning tools with daily instruction to implement the new standards comprehensively, thoughtfully, and effectively.

"It's crucial for students to be able to read and understand complex text -- so they can build knowledge, learn to think critically and apply what they’ve learned to solve problems," said Margery Mayer, President of Scholastic Education. "Each workshop in Code X challenges students to think about real life situations and answer life’s essential questions with topics that range from civil rights to symbiosis, from economics to identity, from archeology to conservation, and more."

Each grade-level edition of Code X offers a full year of instruction, designed around seven units that explore a variety of topics. These units focus on vocabulary, comprehension, writing, and performance tasks designed to engage students in close reading and daily writing about complex nonfiction and contemporary literature. 

1. cross-curricular content to build knowledge across disciplines (science, social studies, technology, and the arts).
2. text analysis and close reading of contemporary, relevant nonfiction and literature.
3. writing and performance assessments designed to ensure evidence-based competency.
4. routines that build academic language and vocabulary.
5. daily opportunities for direct instructions, academic discussion, small-group, pair, and independent work.
6. support to scaffold text and differentiate learning for all students.