Poll: Most Americans Don’t Understand Common Core

Don’t understand the hubbub surrounding Common Core? You’re not alone. A new survey says a majority of Americans have never heard of the new educational standards.

Stateline highlights the poll from Phi Delta Kappa International and Gallup which finds:

• 62% had never heard of Common Core
• Only 45% of parents with kids in public schools knew about Common Core
• Only 22% of parents said testing improved their local school, while 36% said testing was harmful
• 58% oppose using standardized tests to evaluate teacher performance, which is up from 47% last year.

Another startling finding:

Even those who said they had heard of the Common Core had false impressions of the standards. Some agreed that the Common Core will create standards in all academic areas, is based on a blend of state standards or is a mandate of the federal government—all of which are false.

William J.  Bushaw, executive director of PDK International, a professional association for educators based in Arlington, Va., said he was surprised how many Americans have not heard of the Common Core.

“State and local education leaders have been very focused on implementing the standards and working on the new assessments,” Bushaw said. “It really wasn’t until less than a year ago that groups suddenly raised criticism against the standards. It’s my opinion that the state and local leaders were caught off guard by that.”