Poll: Most Americans unfamiliar with new Common Core teaching standards
Most Americans have never heard of the Common Core State Standards, the educational approach that is overhauling classroom instruction across most of the country and has triggered intensifying political and policy debate about the nation’s academic benchmarks, according to a national poll scheduled to be released Wednesday.
The disconnect between policymakers and the public is among the key findings of a PDK-Gallup poll that was the 45th annual effort to measure Americans’ views on key education issues.
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Public attitudes toward public schools
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The poll found that two in three people had not heard of the Common Core, which has been fully adopted in 45 states and the District. The new rigorous standardsemphasize critical thinking and problem solving and are meant to better prepare students for success.
Of those who did recognize the term, most had major misconceptions about the standards and believed that they will have no effect or will make American students less competitive with their peers across the world.
Chris Minnich, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, one of two groups that sponsored the Common