Primary Sources: Update: Teachers’ Views on Common Core State Standards
This report is a follow-up to the third edition of the Primary Sources survey of America’s teachers. In the third edition of Primary Sources, over 20,000 pre-K through grade 12 public school teachers responded to a survey to share their perspectives on issues important to their profession, including the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). In this follow-up report, Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation surveyed over 1,600 teachers from the same sample of teachers who participated in the third-edition survey. These teachers taught in the states in which the CCSS were being implemented. The follow-up survey included questions on how implementation is going in their schools and classrooms and asked questions on the impact, if any, the standards were having on their classrooms, students, and families. Key findings from this follow-up survey include: teachers are more likely to report feeling prepared to teach the CCSS; teachers are beginning to see positive changes in their own classrooms with the CCSS; and teachers are reporting that they are enthusiastic about implementing the CCSS. The findings from the survey are presented in narrative, table, and chart formats.
This Primary Sources report is based on responses from a subset of participants in an earlier study that represents the original population characteristics, including grade(s) of instruction, years of teaching experience, gender, and urbanity of school location. It partially meets its goal of recording teacher perceptions relative to Common Core State Standards (CCSS) implementation. The paper’s sidebar quotes are predominantly positive about the CCSS, making it appear somewhat biased. The document’s layout, design, and inclusion of charts and graphs make it visually appealing and reader-friendly. Readers might find some of the most useful material in the narrative and graphs near the end of the paper, where the report offers: observations about external negative factors impacting CCSS implementation; resources identified by teachers as critical to successful implementation, including types of instructional materials or professional development tools received; and a comparison of teachers who viewed the CCSS as favorable or unfavorable following their professional development or engagement experiences.