Year Two of Implementing the Common Core State Standards: States' Progress and Challenges
Author: Kober, Nancy
Date: 2012-01-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Academic Standards,State Standards,English,Language Arts,Elementary Secondary Education,Mathematics,Program Implementation

As of January 2012, 45 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts and mathematics developed through the leadership of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Released in June 2010, these voluntary standards outline the knowledge and skills in English language arts and math that students in grades kindergarten through 12 are expected to learn to be prepared for college and careers. For the past two years, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) has tracked states' progress in implementing the Common Core State Standards by conducting surveys of deputy state superintendents of education or their designees. The authors' first survey on this topic took place in fall 2010, just months after the standards were released. As described in the 2011 CEP report on that survey, &quot;States' Progress and Challenges in Implementing Common Core State Standards,&quot; the adopting states had taken initial steps to implement the CSSS but many did not expect to fully implement some of the more complex standards-related changes until 2013 or later. In October through December of 2011, the authors conducted a second survey of deputy superintendents or their designees to gather more recent information about states' strategies, policies, and challenges during the second year of implementing the CCSS. This report describes findings about the CCSS from their 2011 survey. The survey also addressed other topics--including states' fiscal condition and capacity, progress in implementing the assurances required by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and waivers of Elementary and Secondary Education Act requirements--that have been or will be covered in other CEP reports. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia, which is counted as a state in the tallies in this report, responded to the 2011 survey. Thirty-five of these 38 respondents (including D.C.) had adopted the CCSS in both English language arts and math at the time of the survey, while one respondent had adopted the standards in English language arts but not math, and two had not adopted the standards in either subject. These latter three states are not counted in the totals of adopting states in this report. Thus, the authors' survey findings represent the views of a majority of the 46 states (including D.C.) that have adopted the standards in both subjects. The names of participating states have been kept confidential to encourage frank answers. Findings reveal that states view the Common Core State Standards as more rigorous than their previous standards, according to their survey, and are making progress in transitioning to the new standards. But states face challenges in fully implementing the standards, particularly in finding adequate funding. The majority of the CCSS-adopting states in the authors' survey do not expect to fully implement the new standards until school year 2014-15 or later. (Contains 3 figures and 3 tables.