Survey
Survey distributed via email, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Survey Results
I surveyed 42 professionals in my career to find out how the Common Core State Standards have impacted students and teachers in Arizona. Through the experience of current educators, future teachers can be prepared for the career ahead of them and in turn provide their students with the best education they can. This survey asks questions relating to all the important aspects of implementing the new standards, including its effects, time requirements, and personal opinions.
The number of years that the participants had been in the teaching profession ranged from less than one year to eight years, with the majority of the results being in the one to two year span. When asked what changes had to be made in the classroom to meet the new standards, the results varied greatly but with some consistency. Overall, teachers adjusted their lesson plans to elicit the open thinking and explanations of processes, rather than correct end results, that Common Core focuses on. As a whole, the standards are still rather novel, making it difficult to understand their impact yet. Despite the uncertainty, the majority of the educators surveyed agreed that the Common Core State Standards are beneficial because they are creating an equal playing field for all students. Every student is unique and will be impacted by changes differently but out of the 42 teachers surveyed, the most prominent characteristic was increased engagement from the students. In order to accommodate for the new standards, most educators must spend time updating lessons or preparing new material. Out of the surveyed teachers, 43.2% spent six to ten hours a week preparing and 40.5% spent zero to five hours a week on average. Fortunately, since the standards are unfamiliar to nearly all educators, the easiest aspect of implementing Common Core has been the support available and the scheduled curriculum that provides an agenda to follow. Only five of the 42 participants surveyed did not have English language learners or bilingual students in their classrooms.
The number of years that the participants had been in the teaching profession ranged from less than one year to eight years, with the majority of the results being in the one to two year span. When asked what changes had to be made in the classroom to meet the new standards, the results varied greatly but with some consistency. Overall, teachers adjusted their lesson plans to elicit the open thinking and explanations of processes, rather than correct end results, that Common Core focuses on. As a whole, the standards are still rather novel, making it difficult to understand their impact yet. Despite the uncertainty, the majority of the educators surveyed agreed that the Common Core State Standards are beneficial because they are creating an equal playing field for all students. Every student is unique and will be impacted by changes differently but out of the 42 teachers surveyed, the most prominent characteristic was increased engagement from the students. In order to accommodate for the new standards, most educators must spend time updating lessons or preparing new material. Out of the surveyed teachers, 43.2% spent six to ten hours a week preparing and 40.5% spent zero to five hours a week on average. Fortunately, since the standards are unfamiliar to nearly all educators, the easiest aspect of implementing Common Core has been the support available and the scheduled curriculum that provides an agenda to follow. Only five of the 42 participants surveyed did not have English language learners or bilingual students in their classrooms.
This study proved that the highly discussed Common Core State Standards are not necessarily something to fear. Plenty of new teachers are already seeing the benefits in their classrooms through more engaged students and collaboration within their schools. Although there are not many resources that apply to Common Core and this requires making lessons from scratch, I am pleased to hear that fellow teachers are working together to provide their students with the best possible materials. As the years pass, the positive effects of Common Core will become more apparent and learning will be easier for both the teachers and students. Initially, children are being forced to learn an entirely different method than they are used to, but will adapt and prosper in the future with deeper thought processes being a familiar tool in all classrooms. Now that the survey has relieved my fear of the standards, I am curious to know exactly what methods and lessons are most successful in the classroom.