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Teachers Want More PD to Help Students Reach Full Potential under Common Core
The Fordham Institute’s recent survey looks at how K-8 math educators are implementing the Common Core math standards in their classrooms. Overall, teachers think that these standards are helping them and their students grow.
- Fifty-three percent of teachers surveyed think the Common Core math standards will have long term benefits for their students; a majority (55 percent) also think that the standards will help ensure that students have the math skills needed to compete in the global economy.
- Seventy-seven percent of K-2 teachers surveyed (and a majority of teachers in grades 3-8) think students are developing better number sense and “more ability to apply math in real-world situations.”
- Sixty-five percent of K-5 teachers and 41 percent of 6-8 report that they are teaching students multiple methods to solve a problem more often than they did before the Common Core.
But the survey’s most important finding highlights an issue we’re already all too familiar with: 42 percent of teachers reported that the math materials available to them are not well aligned to the Common Core math standards.
What does this mean?
Teachers are telling us that their curricula and instructional materials are not well aligned with the math standards. So it’s up to states and districts to make sure these hardworking teachers have the tools they need to succeed – through targeted professional development and adequate, aligned resources.
These teachers are working day in and day out to ensure that the next generation will thrive after high school – in college or career. They know best what they need to meet this goal. Let’s all encourage states and districts to give it to them.
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.