Annual ed survey finds serious skepticism over common core
Only 17 percent of teachers and 22 percent of school principals believe the new common core curriculum standards will improve student achievement or prepare them for college and the workforce, according to findings of a new national poll.
That lack of confidence comes even though nearly nine out of 10 educators interviewed in the annual MetLife Survey of the American Teacher said they are knowledgeable about the common core and believe they have the academic skills and ability to properly carry out its implementation.
The Met survey, conducted every year since 1984, also found teacher job satisfaction has dropped a dramatic 23 percentage points since 2008 – including 5 percent in the last year alone.
A majority of teachers reported that they feel under great stress at least several days a week, which the poll authors said was a significant increase from 1985 when this was last measured.
Drawn from telephone interviews with 1,000 public school teachers in the U.S. and 500 school principals during the five week period ending Nov. 11, the survey was conducted by Harris Interactive for the insurance conglomerate. The researcher did not provide an estimate of sampling error, which they said could not be calculated.
Not surprisingly, a majority of teachers and principals reported that their school’s budget has decreased in the last 12 months, and even greater proportions of teachers and principals indicated that managing within the budget cuts has become a major challenge.
Three-quarters of all principals say that the job has become too complex, and nearly half report feeling under great
Reminder: Sequester cuts will be delayed until July
As Friday’s sequestration deadline looms closer, the White House released over the weekend a detailed, state-by-state analysis of the impacts of the automatic cuts – with an emphasis on education. But a memo last summer set July, 2013 as the date when cuts would begin.