School Improvement Network Surveys Parents and Educators; Results Show Overall Support of Common Core from Both Groups

Salt Lake City, Utah (PRWEB) September 12, 2013

School Improvement Network, the leader in educator effectiveness resources, today released results of two surveys measuring opinions of Common Core State Standards from both educators and parents. School Improvement Network had noted an absence of pure data related to parent and educator opinions in the literature around the Common Core State Standards, recognizing that those groups had largely been represented by union voices and political parties. Feeling that representation was inadequate, School Improvement Network looked for a way to bring clarity to the heated discussion around the Common Core Standards by bringing insight from two of the most significant stakeholders in education.

“It’s critical for the voices of those that will be impacted by decisions being made about education to be part of the debate,” said Chet D. Linton, School Improvement Network CEO and president. “We felt strongly that regardless of the decisions made, it ought to be done with real information from real parents and real teachers. That is why we commissioned a national, random telephone survey of parents and at the same time, asked our community of educators to tell us their opinions independent of any affiliation.”

Parent awareness and opinions were measured through a national, independent telephone survey conducted in August 2013. In order to reach the survey goal of a statistically significant, national sample of parents with school-aged children, 4,180 parents were contacted with 500 qualifying to complete the survey for having awareness of Common Core State Standards. Of these, 62% of parents say they support the Standards.

Support from educators was even more significant – with 3,077 respondents in 50 states, in rural, urban and suburban settings, 81% of educators surveyed say Common Core State Standards will have an overall positive impact on student preparation toward college and career.

In fact, only 21% of educators report receiving negative feedback from parents about Common Core, defying reports of widespread public distaste for the Standards.

Full results of the surveys can be found here and will be available beginning today. Additional data points from the survey include:

Educator Opinions

•     82% of educators say resources provided to help parents understand what Common Core is and what it means for their child have been insufficient.
•     Educators estimate that less than 25% of parents and community members in their areas have utilized any designated resources.
•     79% of educators feel that the Common Core Standards have become overly politicized and that they do not support efforts by political groups to remove the Standards.

Parent Opinions

•     62% of parents report that they support Common Core State Standards.
•     Only 22% report opposition.
•     These figures are consistent across the West, South, Northeast and Midwest regions and all income brackets.
•     Those that support and oppose Common Core State Standards share many misconceptions:

o    61% of parents believe the Standards will result in an increase in federal powers in education.
o    55% of parents believe the Standards will include personal data collection by the federal government on students.

•     The three primary groups responsible for Common Core Standards, education experts, business leaders and governors were only correctly identified by a small number of respondents as the responsible parties.
•     Parents even report a belief that data collection will be part of the implementation process including blood type, hair color, eye color, birth history and religious affiliation.

“It’s clear from the results of this survey that parents are concerned about the quality of their children’s education and they believe that Common Core is a positive step,” said Linton. ”There is clear concern that students in some areas of the country are receiving a less rigorous education than others, leaving them unprepared to move into college and/or career. Parents want their children to have the best education possible and together with educators, they believe Common Core will help that become a reality.”

About School Improvement Network

Founded in 1991 by teachers, School Improvement Network has spent decades researching and documenting the best practices in education. From this research, School Improvement Network has developed the Educator Effectiveness System. This system delivers a process to improve teacher practice, and gives educators with a set of powerful tools to drive the process. Research shows that districts and schools that use the tools in the Educator Effectiveness System produce better teachers, and as a result experience dramatic increases in student achievement, driving up student proficiency by an average of 19% per single year. School Improvement Network works with thousands of schools and districts in every state and around the world and has visited over 3,500 classrooms to document best practices in action. Learn more at http://www.schoolimprovement.com.

School Improvement Network and its logos are trademarks of School Improvement Network. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.