ABSTRACTTHE COMMON CORE OF UNDERSTANDING AMONGST THE MICHIGAN EDUCATION COMMUNITY REGARDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS FOR MATHEMATICSByDaniel Lee ClarkThe current effort to implement the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) is the latest in a series of mathematics standards implementation efforts in the United States over the last half century. When implemented, previous standards efforts have either failed or been less successful than anticipated for a variety of reasons. Two oft cited reasons are (1) a lack of a shared understanding about what the standards are and how to incorporate them effectively at various levels of an existing education system, and (2) perceived and/or real flaws in the standards themselves. With this past in mind, this study sought to document whether and to what extent these problems exist within Michigan’s education system as the state implements the CCSSM. More specifically, this study sought answers to two research questions: (1) To what degree is there alignment between Michigan Department of Education (MDE) officials’, regional professional development providers’, and teachers’ views of the goals of CCSSM implementation? (2) Do those outside MDE charged with the implementation feel adequately supported in effecting their part of the transition to the CCSSM? MDE officials, regional professional development providers, and teachers were surveyed and interviewed in order to gather their thoughts on what they believe the goals of the CCSSM to be, whatthey believe their roles in the implementation effort are, and how they are supported in that effort. Responses were analyzed for commonalities and differences in the perceptions of individuals at the varying levels of the state’s education system. While elementary teachers were confident in their abilities to implement the CCSSM effectively, they still desired more professional resources and were generally unfamiliar with several resources others in Michigan’s education system were promoting.
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