Getting Ready for the Common Core State Standards

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.