Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
Common Core State Standards, Grades 11-12, Speaking & Listening · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What SL.11-12.2 Means in Plain English
Juniors and seniors put a map, a table, a recorded interview and an article side by side to make a real decision. They judge each source’s credibility and accuracy, and when two sources give different numbers for the same thing, they say so and work out why.
Ninth and tenth graders (SL.9-10.2) integrated sources in different formats and judged how credible each was. Grades 11 and 12, the last band before college and career readiness, add the decision itself and the discrepancy: a recommendation that names where the data disagree and which figure it trusts.
SL.11-12.2 I Can Statements
I can combine a map, a table and testimony to make a decision.
I can judge how credible and accurate each source is.
I can point out where two sources’ numbers disagree and explain why.
SL.11-12.2 Worked Example
Three sources in three formats, one decision and two syntheses. The first trusts the number it likes; the second finds where the sources part ways.
Prompt
Carrow County can afford one more ambulance and must decide where to base it: in the north townships or by the river district. You have a response-time map from the county, built on 2019 data; a call-volume table from Saint Brendan’s Hospital for 2025, which counts 1,920 calls from the river district and 610 from the north; and a recorded interview with the paramedic chief, who says, “The north is where we’re slowest, 14 minutes on average, and slow is what kills.” Recommend a base.
Not YetThe river district had 1,920 calls and the north only had 610, so the ambulance should go by the river. That’s three times as many calls. The chief’s opinion is just one person, and numbers don’t lie.It trusts the one table that agrees with it, dismisses the chief without weighing his expertise and never notices that the map and the table come from different years and count different things.
Meets the StandardThe sources pull in different directions, and I think the gap is in the data, not just the opinions. The chief is the most credible voice on response times, but he’s reading the county map, which uses 2019 numbers. The hospital table is current, yet it counts only patients brought to Saint Brendan’s, and north-side patients usually go to the hospital across the county line, so 610 is probably low. I’d lean toward the river base, because its volume is high in any count, but I’d ask the county for its own 2025 call logs before the vote. If the north’s real number comes close, the 14-minute response time should decide it.It judges each source’s credibility, notes two discrepancies (the map’s age and the table’s narrow count), explains why they matter, and still makes a decision while naming the one piece of data that could change it.
Moves to Use
Note each source’s format, who made it and when, before trusting a number.Ask what each source actually counts; two honest sources can measure different things.When figures disagree, name the gap and give the likeliest reason for it.Make the decision anyway, and say which new data would change it.
Common Mistakes with SL.11-12.2
Trusting the number that agrees with you
“Numbers don’t lie,” said about the one table that supports the speaker’s side
Try this: Have students write one reason to doubt each source, including the one they like best, before any recommendation is allowed.
Splitting the difference
Two sources give different call counts, and the student reports the average instead of asking why they differ
Try this: Teach the question “What does each source count, and when?” and require it whenever two figures for one thing disagree.
A synthesis with no decision
A careful paragraph on all three sources that ends “It depends” and recommends nothing
Try this: Require every synthesis to end with a recommendation plus the one piece of new data that would change it.
Random Name PickerFree ToolSpin to give each student a source to vouch for: they state what it shows, who made it, when, and one reason to doubt it.Source checkerDiscrepancy hunter
Jeopardy Game MakerFree ToolA review board with categories by format, such as Maps, Tables, Testimony and Discrepancies, where each clue asks which source to trust and why.Source credibilityGrades 11-12