Understanding Common Core Standards & Assessment: Key Findings from Voter and Teacher Survey

1. Growing Awareness, Growing Support: Teacher and Voter Understanding of the Common Core State Standards & Assessments June 2012

2. Methodology On behalf of Achieve, Inc., Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research are pleased to present the key findings from a national survey of N=1,000 registered voters and N=500 K through 12 public school teachers. The survey was conducted May 6-10, 2012 and has a margin of error of +3.1% among voters and +4.4% among teachers. To help inform this survey, a series of eight focus groups (four among parents and four among teachers) were conducted in November-December 2011 to explore perceptions of, and reactions to, information related to the Common Core State Standards and assessments.

3. Background • In June 2010, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) – K-12 standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy developed through a multi-state initiative – were released. • Since then, 46 states and Washington DC have chosen to adopt the new standards as their own. Implementation efforts are now underway in most of these states. • 45 states and Washington DC are working to develop common assessments aligned to the CCSS, which will allow for better cross-state comparisons and will measure whether students are on track to graduating ready for college and careers. • As states are working to transform their education systems with new standards and assessments – impacting curriculum, professional development, and, in many cases, teacher evaluation systems – it’s critical that stakeholders, including teachers and voters/parents, are increasingly aware of, understand, and support the changes. • To support states, Achieve has been monitoring awareness and support for CCSS implementation through nationally-commissioned polling.

4. Key Findings from Growing Awareness, Growing Support: Teacher and Public Understanding of the Common Core State Standards & Assessments • Voters and teachers strongly support common standards and assessments. Voter support remains strong regardless of age, education level, race, ethnicity,or party affiliation. • There has been a significant increase in awareness of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) among teachers since August 2011, while awareness of the CCSS continues to be very low among the voting public. • The more teachers know about the CCSS, the more positive impression they have of the standards. Similarly, voters who are aware of the CCSS hold a favorable view of the standards. • A majority of both voters and teachers support new CCSS assessments, and support holds when more information on the assessments is provided. • However, there are mixed reactions to some specific likely components of the new assessments, although voters and teachers are fairly consistent in their views on the highest and lowest rated assessment components.

5. Common Core State Standards

6. Common Core State Standards Thinking about the last six months, how much have you seen, read or heard about these Common Core State Standards? Among Voters Among Teachers 65% A Lot 60% Nothing At All 60% Nothing At All 46% A Lot Not Much /Nothing Not Much /Nothing Not Much /Nothing A Lot/ Some A Lot/ Some A Lot/ Some A Lot/ Some Since last summer, there has been virtually no change in voters saying they have heard about the Common Core State Standards. However, teachers report a much greater level of awareness.

7. Common Core State Standards And, has what you have seen, read or heard recently about the Common Core State Standards given you a favorable or unfavorable impression of the standards? Among Those Who Have Seen/Read/Heard about CCSS Voters Teachers 24% Very 11% Very No Impact No Impact No Impact Fav Unfav Fav Unfav Fav Unfav Fav Unfav Based on what they have seen, read or heard about the CCSS, teachers report a more favorable impression of the standards compared to last summer.

8. Common Core State Standards Now, just so everyone taking this survey has the same information, let me tell you some more about these Common Core State Standards. These new standards have been set to internationally competitive levels in English and math. This means that students may be more challenged by the material they study, and the tests they take will measure more advanced concepts and require students to show their work. Knowing this, do you favor or oppose implementing these new Common Core State Standards? Respondents were then provided with the following information about the Common Core State Standards and asked if they would favor or oppose their implementation:

9. Common Core State Standards Knowing this, do you favor or oppose implementing these new Common Core State Standards? Among Voters Among Teachers 47% Strongly 45% Strongly 43% Strongly 33% Strongly Fav Unfav Fav Unfav Fav Unfav Fav Unfav Just a brief description of the CCSS produces solid support for the standards.

10. Knowing this, do you favor or oppose implementing these new Common Core State Standards? Common Core State Standards Among Voters 45% Strongly Favor Oppose Among voters, there is broad and deep support across the major sub-groups.

11. Favor/Oppose Implementing CCSS Among Teachers Common Core State Standards After hearing a brief description of the CCSS By Seen, Read or Heard of CCSS 39% Strong 33% Strong 19% Strong 25% Strong 18% Strong Favor Oppose Favor Oppose Favor Oppose Favor Oppose The more teachers report having seen, read or heard about the Common Core State Standards, the more support and enthusiasm they express for implementing them.

12. Common Core State Standards Assessments (CCSS Assessments)

13. Common Core State Standards Assessments Respondents were provided with the following information about the development of new Common Core State Standards assessments and asked if they would favor or oppose their implementation: As the Common Core State Standards are being developed, new tests that will reflect the new standards are also being developed. These new tests are being designed to help determine what students know and can do, and whether they are on track to graduate from high school ready for college and career. Over time, these new tests would replace the current end of the year state tests being given here in (INSERT STATE). Knowing this, do you favor or oppose implementing these new tests?

14. The brief description of new CCSS assessments results in majority support from voters and teachers. Knowing this, do you favor or oppose implementing these new tests? Common Core State Standards Assessments Among Voters Among Teachers Standards Favor 77% Oppose 15% Standards Favor 72% Oppose 20% 40% Strongly 25% Strongly 15% Strongly Favor Oppose Favor Oppose

15. Among voters, there is solid support for the assessments across all the major sub-groups. Favor/Oppose Implementing CCSS Assessments Among Voters Common Core State Standards Assessments 40% Strongly Favor Oppose

16. Again, the more teachers are aware of the Common Core State Standards, the more likely they are to support new CCSS assessments. Favor/Oppose Implementing CCSS Assessments Among Teachers Common Core State Standards Assessments After hearing a brief description of the CCSS assessments By Seen, Read or Heard of CCSS 31% Strong 25% Strong 23% Strong 15% Strong 14% Strong 16% Strong 9% Strong 14% Strong Favor Oppose Favor Oppose Favor Oppose Favor Oppose

17. Reactions To Elements of The CCSS Assessments Common Core State Standards Assessments Respondents were read 14 different components of the CCSS assessments (as contemplated by the states in the PARCC consortia) and asked to rate each of them on a scale from zero to ten, where zero means it would be a very bad idea and ten means it would be a very good idea. The components were read in logical order, so participants were guided step-by-step through the various elements of the assessments. “I would like to get your reaction to the various components and features of the new tests. Please rate each of the following using a scale from zero to ten, where zero means you think this would be a very bad idea and ten means you think this would be a very good idea. Of course, you can choose any number from zero to ten.” 5 4 6 3 7 8 2 Good 9 1 Bad 0 10

18. Teachers offer lower scores across the board. However, voters and teachers agree on most of the components they score highest and lowest. Common Core State Standards Assessments Among Voters Among Teachers

19. Common Core State Standards Assessments Overall, voters are more supportive of the various elements of the CCSS assessments than teachers. The majority of voters rate 10 or more of the 14 elements as a “good idea” compared to just one-third of teachers. Number of Elements of CCSS Assessments Rated 8 or better (1-10 scale) Among Teachers Among Voters 10-14 of 14 (Supporters) 53% 34% 5-9 of 14 (“Swing Voters”) 27% 30% 10-14 of 14 (Opponents) 21% 36%

20. After hearing more about the CCSS assessments, voters offer an even more favorable impression of the tests and teachers hold steady with their opinions. Common Core State Standards Assessments Among Voters Among Teachers 47% Strongly 40% Strongly 25% Strongly 22% Strongly 16% Strongly 15% Strongly Favor Oppose Favor Oppose Favor Oppose Favor Oppose

21. The Bottom Line

22. The Bottom Line • As schools begin implementing Common Core State Standards and new assessments, there is majority support from voters and teachers alike. • Importantly, the more teachers know about the CCSS, the more likely they are to support implementing the standards and the new assessments. Teacher knowledge has grown significantly over the last six months. • It is possible that as states and districts move from the CCSS being an idea to reality with implementation, overall support may slip. But how much it slips may be dependent on how strong the implementation plan is – and how well that plan is communicated. • Ongoing and sustained communications is key to maintaining and building lasting support for both teachers and voters.

23. Bottom Line • It is critical to sustain or ramp up efforts to educate teachers—including what the implementation plan is and what teachers can expect. Focus groups with teachers reinforce the importance of good professional development, aligned materials,and their desire to collaborate with colleagues. • Voters also need to become increasingly aware of the CCSS and what it means for students and parents. What will be different? How will the expectations change? What kind of support will be available? Voters, like teachers, also need to understand how these changes fit into the broader reform agenda, why it’s important, and the value of the new standards to our education system and economy.

24. Achieve is a bipartisan, non-profit organization that helps states raise academic standards, improve assessments, and strengthen accountability to prepare all young people for college, careers and life. • For more information, see www.achieve.org/