During the 2013-2014 school year, Senator Carol Liu convened stakeholders from more than 25 school districts in Southern California to address the successes and challenges of the implementation of the Common Core.
In collaboration with Dr. Sharon Ulanoff, an in-depth analysis of the data from each roundtable, including surveys and notes from stakeholders, along with notes from comprehensive interviews with three district administrators extrapolated the challenges and successes of the implementation of the Common Core State Standards.
Background: AB 85, Section 86 (2013) stipulated that school districts in California would receive $1.25 billion dollars dispersed across districts based on the Local Control Funding (LCF) Formula during the 2013-2014 school year (CDE, 2013b) to support the implementation of the Common Core (CCSSI, 2014). These authorized expenditures were meant to support professional development and instructional materials aligned with the Common Core along with technological instruction, to ensure schools were prepared to administer the computerized assessment of Common Core (CCSSI, 2014) (AB 86, Section 85, 2013).
AB 484 (2013) was amended to recognize the implementation of the Smarter Balanced Assessment under the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASP) system (CDE, 2013c). With additional money budgeted during the 2014-2015 school year, the state recognized that school districts require additional monies to support the successful implementation of Common Core (CCSSI, 2014).
The range of successes noted by stakeholders included teacher buy-in and alignment of report cards to the Common Core Standards, which is evidenced through this joint response:
When we are able to get teachers together to discuss the implementation of the Common Core, it is exciting to hear the dialog and shift in pedagogy teachers are experiencing in their classrooms. I do believe teachers are “excited” to teach and facilitate learning and not try to rush through skills. Teacher led training is happening.
Despite the additional money earmarked for implementation, challenges were eminent, as represented by this collective response:
The critical challenges of implementation are the lack of resources, especially time and money, plus the availability of timely materials for teachers to use in their classrooms. The implementation of Common Core is now, the assessment is next year and the adoption cycle is next year. Districts are scrambling to find strong curricular tools for the classroom. Finding enough time to thoughtfully engage staff in transitional activities, i.e. curriculum development, professional development around the shifts and Mathematics Standards, practice, re-creating CCSS-aligned benchmarks, etc.
Solutions to address challenges:
* Leverage outside professional developers AND teacher coaches within the district to develop curriculum to support teachers in their implementation;
* Increase transparency with families to allow for a greater understanding of the Common Core and associated tests by planning forums throughout the year;
* Lobby for additional fiscal resources to support further implementation.