Additional information
by Jennifer R. Cowhy (Author), Julia a. Gwynne (Author)
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are one of the most significant educational initiatives in the last decade. Aimed at addressing persistently low levels of student achievement in the United States, the CCSS identify the set of skills that students need at each grade level to ensure they are on a path toward college and career readiness. This report describes teachers' and administrators' experiences preparing for this transition, using survey responses from the spring of 2014 and the spring of 2015. Survey questions focused on four areas: attitudes about the kind of impact the new standards will have and how challenging they are; experiences with formal professional development on the new standards; opportunities outside of formal training to learn about the new standards; and how prepared teachers feel to teach the new standards.
Author Biography
JULIA GWYNNE is a Senior Research Analyst at UChicago Consortium. Her current work focuses on early warning indicators of high school and college readiness and the use of indicators with groups such as English Language Learners and students with disabilities. JENNIFER R. COWHY is a Research Analyst at UChicago Consortium. She received her BA with distinction from the University of Michigan and an MPP and an MA from the University of Chicago's Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy and School of Social Service Administration. The University of Chicago Consortium on School Research (UChicago Consortium) builds the capacity for school reform by conducting research that identifies what matters for student success and school improvement. Created in 1990, UChicago Consortium conducts research of high technical quality that can inform and assess policy and practice in the Chicago Public Schools. UChicago Consortium studies also have informed broader national movements in public education. UChicago Consortium encourages the use of research in policy action and improvement of practice but does not argue for particular policies or programs. Rather, UChicago Consortium helps to build capacity for school reform by identifying what matters for student success and school improvement, creating critical indicators to chart progress, and conducting theory-driven evaluation to identify how programs and policies are working.
