Center for American ProgressCommon Core Survey of Parents

Prepared by Purple Strategies

September 2014

Methodology:

• Purple Insights completed 827 interviews with parent* voters nationwide• 480 landline phone interviews• 160 cell interviews• 187 online

• Interviews were conducted from September 17-22, 2014.

• Margin of error: +/- 3.4%

*Parents includes parents, stepparents, foster parents, and legal guardians of children under the age of 18.

Not all numbers may add up to 100% due to computer rounding.

Most parents who have heard something about the Common Core claim to understand the standards well

How well would you say you understand the Common Core? Among parents who have heard “not too much” or more about the Common Core

A great deal

Some

Not too much

Not at all

28

28

15

26

18

46

2212

How much have you heard about the Common Core?

64

Net Understand

35

Net Don’t Understand

Yet parents believe many Common Core myths

Based on what you know or have heard about the Common Core, please tell me whether you think that is a true or false statement about the Common Core, or if you aren’t sure.

Mandatory for all states

Displaces classic books and replaces them with books written by foreigners

SPLIT A: An Obama Administration initiative

Adopted by politicians in Washington without the input of local schools

Specifies a reading list for each grade

Disadvantaged students will be further left behind by aggressive testing

Teachers were not involved enough in development

Requires more school testing

Will lead to more teacher testing and eval-uation

Limits teacher independence/flexibility to create their own lessons

SPLIT B: A federal government initiative

Will result in a shared curriculum and common tests

16

16

25

33

33

35

36

40

40

45

49

50

35

27

20

17

9

19

15

12

11

15

8

5 45

43

40

49

48

48

46

57

50

55

58

49

True False Don’t Know

Reform testing so it includes more essays and fewer multiple-choice tests

Reduce the number of standardized tests students take in schools

Create voluntary national education standards establishing shared goals and expectations for students across states

Make education standards more rigorous to prepare kids for college and jobs of the future

Raise national standards so the U.S. can be more competitive with other countries

Develop standards based on conceptual understanding, skills, and problem-solving, rather than memorization

Reform testing so it provides clear feedback to teachers and parents on student strengths and weaknesses

Develop standards with the input of teachers and educators, and not the federal government

Provide teachers and schools flexibility to develop a curriculum that works in the classroom

61

68

74

84

84

88

90

90

91

All Common Core characteristics and goals enjoy widespread support I’m going to read you some things people have proposed to improve public school education standards and evaluation. After each, please tell me whether you favor or oppose that proposal. Showing Net Favor (Strongly + Somewhat)

69% Strongly Favor

70%

70%

59%

59%

52%

41%

43%

30%

Local schools fare better than schools nationwide

On the same scale, how would you grade public schools in your own community?

A20%

B38%

C25%

D11%

F5%

DK2%

58% A or B 41% C or below

Overall, how would you grade K-12 public schools in the United States as a whole – would you grade them an A, B, C, D, or F?

A4%

B27%

C46%

D11%

F6%

DK6%

31% A or B 63% C or below

The Tea Party

Barack Obama

The Republican Party

The Democratic Party

Your Member of Congress

Teachers’ unions

Your local school board

Your local PTA

Public school principals

Public school teachers

36

48

51

52

53

55

71

78

82

88

Local messengers trump national ones

How trustworthy would you find each of the following people, organizations, or groups on the issue of public education in the United States? Showing Very + Somewhat Trustworthy

40% Very Trustworthy

32%

36%

23%

17%

11%

13%

9%

18%

9%