Passage and implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) created numerous difficulties for educational stakeholders. One such difficulty, determining the alignment of previously utilized curricula to the CCSS, forced many states, districts, and schools into purchasing “new” curricular resources marketed as “Common Core Aligned” without any available auditing process to validate the claims made by publishers. Since initial implementation of CCSS, measures for determining alignment have been developed. This study examined the alignment of a widely used reading program, Adventures Common Core (pseudonym), to the Common Core State Standards using a modified version of the Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Products (EQuIP) Rubric for Lessons and Units: ELA/Literacy. The following research questions guided this study: (1) To what extent does the Adventures Common Core reading program effectively address all components of literacy as defined by the Common Core State Standards? (2) To what extent does the Adventures Common Core reading program accurately assess student literacy in alignment with the Common Core State Standards? Findings, which are significant for future research, show that even intentionally aligned curricula can fall short of addressing standards to the depth and rigor intended
