This study, "Teacher Insight: The Implementation of the Common Core State Standards in California School Districts" was designed to glean teacher voice on the large-scale reform. With a need for a global workforce in a 21st century society the existing education system is undergoing a tremendous change in order to prepare students for…

Staff development is a crucial piece for successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). A complete plan must be developed that focuses on implementation of the Common Core State Standards. The focus for this plan should be on teacher needs with an aim to improve student learning. If teacher needs are considered and they see…

Policy makers at the federal level have embraced an educator effectiveness agenda, which in turn has driven many states across the country to rapidly develop and implement new and more complex teacher evaluation systems. It is increasingly clear that the success of these nascent teacher evaluation systems partly depends on the will, skill and…

Many states have adopted the Common Core Standards for literacy and math and have begun enacting these standards in school curriculum. In states where these standards have been adopted, professional educators working in K-12 contexts have been working to create transition plans from existing state-based standards to the Common Core standards. A…

Successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSS-M) should result in noticeable differences in primary and middle school math classrooms across the United States. "Common Core Math in the K-8 Classroom: Results from a National Teacher Survey" takes a close look at how educators are implementing the…

This first Early Implementers Initiative evaluation publication discusses one of the major shifts required by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), namely the shift to integrated instruction. The integration of science and English language arts (ELA) is the focus of the first main section, and the integration of the science disciplines…

The California State Board of Education's decision to adopt the Common Core State Standards Initiative, with the incorporation of English language arts expectations for literacy in science, has not yet ensured complete involvement and support of all science educators to implement instructional change. Teachers' willingness to implement this…

The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy (CCSS-ELA) were adopted by approximately forty states (though in some cases, with significant revisions). However, researchers are still trying to understand how teachers are implementing the CCSS-ELA at the ground level--that is, in actual ELA classrooms. The CCSS-ELA call for…

The success of any education reform depends on many factors. A critical component is whether school staff are supportive of the initiative and view it as likely to improve educational outcomes. Equally important is whether school staff have the professional development opportunities they need to ensure their practice is aligned with the goals of…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS)--adopted in 2010--are similar to California's current K-12 standards, but their emphasis on conceptual understanding and problem solving will require changes in classroom instruction. California's transition to the CCSS has gotten off to a slow start. Survey data suggest that many teachers will deliver the…

Common Core State Standards are embroiled in controversy and politics. The need to continue to study the many facets of educational changes remains critical, especially from the perspective of the teachers experiencing such changes firsthand. Existing surveys of teacher perceptions regarding the Common Core State Standards have focused primarily…

Since adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in 2010, California has given districts significant flexibility in how they support teachers in implementing the standards. This flexibility, along with vastly differing local and regional contexts, has resulted in a wide variety of district-level approaches to training teachers in content…

The implementation of the Common Core State Standards has posed a number of challenges for school leaders. This study applies a policy implementation conceptual framework to analyze data gathered from 46 interviews in six states. Findings suggest the existence of multiple barriers to Common Core State Standards implementation. To promote…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the perceptions of high school mathematics teachers regarding the support provided through professional development (PD) as they engage in the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). By means of a qualitative instrumental case study, eight high school mathematics teachers…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explain how the Common Core State Standards may have influenced teachers' practices and philosophies regarding literacy instruction. Conducted in five kindergarten through second-grade classrooms within one elementary school, this research study collected semi-structured interviews, classroom…