Implementation of the common core state standards began in 2010 for public school districts across the United States, and research about the impact of these standards on teaching and learning in smaller rural schools is limited. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to describe how K-12 English language arts teachers in rural remote schools integrated the common core state standards into curriculum, as defined by Aoki's theory about planned and lived curriculums, which formed the conceptual framework for this research. Participants included 8 K-12 English language arts teachers from 2 rural remote public school districts located in a western state. Research questions addressed curricular and instructional alignment, and data were collected from individual teacher interviews and reflective journals, observations of instructional lessons, and curriculum documents. Data were coded and categorized to determine themes and discrepant data (Charmaz, Merriam, and Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña). A content analysis was used for documents. Results indicate that teachers aligned curriculum with common core state standards by using previously adopted textbooks, developing alignment documents to address standards, creating unit and lesson materials independently, and participating in limited collaborative planning with colleagues. Recommendations include continued investigation into rural teachers' professional development needs, collaborative planning practices, and use of curriculum materials within and across grade levels. This study contributes to positive social change because improved rural education impacts rural remote students, communities, and educators, who play a valuable role in developing a national curriculum.

This thesis is a narrative inquiry into the experiences of two childrens lives in school. I lived alongside the two children in their grade five classroom for eight months of their school year inquiring into the ways that their school experiences and their relationships with the teacher, classmates, and subject matter influenced the way they composed their stories to live by. In this thesis I share a personal reflection on the way my story to live by has been shaped by my experiences, specifically as a student, a teacher, and a researcher. I use field notes and taped conversations with each of the two boys to retell the stories they shared with me and apply them to literature and theory. I use Deweys Criteria of Experience within a narrative framework to help understand and retell the stories of the two boys as well as Clandinin, Pushor, and Murray Orrs commonplaces of narrative inquiry: place, temporality, and sociality. I explore Aokis planned and lived curriculum and Noddings ethic of care and fidelity in teaching as they applied to the inquiry.

This thesis is a narrative inquiry into the experiences of two childrens lives in school. I lived alongside the two children in their grade five classroom for eight months of their school year inquiring into the ways that their school experiences and their relationships with the teacher, classmates, and subject matter influenced the way they composed their stories to live by. In this thesis I share a personal reflection on the way my story to live by has been shaped by my experiences, specifically as a student, a teacher, and a researcher. I use field notes and taped conversations with each of the two boys to retell the stories they shared with me and apply them to literature and theory. I use Deweys Criteria of Experience within a narrative framework to help understand and retell the stories of the two boys as well as Clandinin, Pushor, and Murray Orrs commonplaces of narrative inquiry: place, temporality, and sociality. I explore Aokis planned and lived curriculum and Noddings ethic of care and fidelity in teaching as they applied to the inquiry.