A survey of the two largest teacher unions found that Connecticut teachers continue to be concerned about implementing the Common Core State Standards.
The survey of 600 teachers — 500 from the Connecticut Education Association and 100 from AFT Connecticut — found that educators are concerned about the time, support, and professional training opportunities available to them.
The new survey, which was presented to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s task force on the Common Core on Wednesday, found that 82 percent are concerned about the amount of time they have to “adequately learn, develop, and implement common core standards.”
About 81 percent are concerned about having adequate technology for assessment and curriculum to help them implement the Common Core and 78 percent are concerned about training opportunities.
The survey also found that the concerns among teachers in towns with lower wealth are higher than those in towns with greater wealth about the support available to them.
Kelly Donnelly, state Department of Education spokeswoman, said the department has not been able to review the results of the survey in depth, but “based upon our initial review, the survey appears to provide valuable information.”
“Teachers have provided thoughtful and important input throughout the process of implementing the Common Core,” Donnelly said. “That’s why we’ve lowered the stakes and increased supports during the transition to the new standards.”
In January, the Education Department and Malloy decided to decouple the new teacher evaluation system and implementation of the Common Core. At the same, the department decided not to spend $1 million on a public relations campaign to promote the Common Core.
“We’ve delinked the use of state test data from teacher evaluations for two years, offered districts flexibility regarding which state tests to administer this year, stepped-up the state-supported trainings, and developed a website resource for educators providing quality Common Core materials,” Donnelly said. “We will continue to welcome feedback from teachers and look forward to the recommendations of the Governor’s Common Core Taskforce. The survey, when combined with the taskforce recommendations and superintendent input, will help inform the Department’s future decisions and strengthen our supports in the coming academic year.”
The survey of teachers was conducted by Abacus Associates of Northampton, Mass. by telephone in April, and has a 4 percent margin of error.
Earlier this month, a University of Connecticut national survey found that only 39 percent of voters are aware of Common Core State Standards.
