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Harvard Study Shows Common Core Has Support of Educators and Is Bringing Positive Changes to the Classroom

A new study from Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research looks at how educators across five states are using Common Core State Standards. The recently released report assesses educators’ efforts to meet the demands of their state’s recently adopted higher standards and finds that the standards have fostered significant positive instructional changes in classrooms and are garnering positive sentiment among a majority of teachers and principals.

The study (which you can read here) finds:

  • Four out of five mathematics teachers (82%) and three out of four English teachers (72%) reported that they have changed more than half of their instructional materials in response to the Common Core.
  • Seven out of eight English teachers (85%) reported having increased writing assignments in which students are expected to use evidence to support their arguments.
  • A similar percentage have increased assigned reading of nonfiction texts.
  • The researchers also found that a majority of teachers (73%) reported that they have embraced the new standards “quite a bit” or “fully,” and that more than two thirds of principals believe that the new standards will lead to improved student learning.

Click here to read the full study and more findings.

About the Collaborative for Student Success

At our core, we believe leaders at all levels have a role to play in ensuring success for K-12 students. From ensuring schools and teachers are equipped with the best materials to spotlighting the innovative and bold ways federal recovery dollars are being used to drive needed changes, the Collaborative for Student Success aims to inform and amplify policies making a difference for students and families.

To recover from the most disruptive event in the history of American public schools, states and districts are leveraging unprecedented resources to make sure classrooms are safe for learning, providing students and teachers with the high-quality instructional materials they deserve, and are rethinking how best to measure learning so supports are targeted where they’re needed most. 

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