Influence of National Organizations on the Common Core Standards

Organizations That Influence Policy

Advocacy Groups for the Common Core State Standards

There are several groups and organizations who advocate for the Common Core Standards.  They believe that the our education system needs to be overhauled and the Common Core standards are designed to prepare students to be college and career ready to be successfully equipped with 21^st century skills.  Using their website platform and their position of influence, some educational organizations, policy groups, and the U.S. Department of Education promoted the adoption of the Common Core Standards. 

The National Education Association, or NEA is in support of the Common Core Standards and has been promoting its implementation. The NEA has the Common Core State Standards listed as one of its issues under its Issues and Actions section of its website.  With a membership of over 3 million members and self- described as “committed to advancing the cause of public education,” NEA is promoting the Common Core to its members and the larger public and has taken an official stance on Common Core State Standard (“About NEA,” 2015). In its Vision and Goal Statement on the Common Core, the NEA described the Common Core as having “the potential to provide access to a complete and challenging education for all children” (“Vision and Goal Statement,” 2015).  The NEA also put forth that “these voluntary standards provides educators with more manageable curriculum goals and greater opportunities to use their professional judgment in ways that promote student success” (“Vision and Goal Statement,” 2015).

The NEA has taken several steps in its attempt to have a profound influence on the implementation of the common core.  Through its website, the NEA has compiled and disseminated materials with detailed information to communicate, discuss and share information about the Common Core to different audiences.  Included among these materials is an article titled, “Common Core State Standards: A Tool for Improving Education.” This document discussed the history of the Common Core, described the standards, and argued why these standards are special.  Some other articles and videos included“10 Things You Should Know About Common Core,” “Video: 2013 Education Nation Tackles Common Core,” and “Bringing Common Sense to the Common Core.” There were videos for implementing the common core, videos for educators and families, and videos with educators’ perspectives on the common core.  The president of NEA, Dennis Van Roekel, wrote an article titled, “Getting to the Core of Common Core-Change is hard –not necessarily bad,” in which he argued in favor for implementation of the Common Core (“Common Core Articles & Multimedia,” 2015).

 In addition, the NEA has developed tools and resources to help educators with implementation. Some of these “Association-led programs” that help with Common Core implementation include Better Lessons, which features “features talented and hardworking teachers, sharing Common Core-focused” lessons just as they teach them in their classrooms every day. The Teaching Channel was also another resource which, features more than 180 videos specifically on Common Core (“Common Core Research and Tools,” 2015).

Another organization, The American Federation of Teachers, or AFT, explained on its website why it supports the Common Core. According to the AFT, The Common Core Standards is a way to show that we no longer tolerate one set of standards for children who live in poor black neighborhood such as Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn and another set of standards for children in affluent white areas such as Beverly Hills, California (“FAQs About The Common Core,”2014). The AFT betrayed no confidence in its support for teacher autonomy.  Although the AFT is in favor of the common core, the organization believes the Common Core standards define what students need to know are not a meant to “tell teachers what to teach” or “not a national mandate or curriculum” (“Debunking Myths of the CommonCore,”2014).

The AFT believes the Common Core Standards have the potential to transform teaching and learning and provide all children with the problem-solving, critical-thinking and teamwork skills they need to compete in today’s changing world (“FAQs About The Common Core,”2014).  It was interesting that the AFT used the phrase “have the potential to transform,” which indicated to me that the AFT has offered a less than full throated endorsement of the Common Core in comparison to the NEA’s outright endorsement.  In fact, the AFT believes that the Common Core standards have “enormous potential” but other issues that affect education such as poverty cannot be ignored (“FAQs About The Common Core,”2014). The AFT believes that interventions, added support and resources to meet the social, emotional, and health needs of children must also be put in place. (“FAQs About The Common Core,”2014).  By this admission, it can be concluded that although the AFT supports the Common Core Standards, they don’t think the standards will fix all the problems in our education system.  

 The Council of Chief State School Officers or CCSSO has launched a powerful campaign to influence the implementation of the Common Core Standards.  The CCSSO’s website is saturated with information about on the Common Core Standards.  The CCSSO in conjunction with 40 states developed CCReady, an initiative that was “designed to highlight those items, provide updates on new resources, and shine a spotlight on state leadership with Common Core implementation and houses recommended resources…to implement College and Career Ready Standards ” (“About CC Ready,” 2015). 


 The CCSSO is driving the implementation of the Common Core Standards by providing links to featured resources to help with the Common Core implementation. Links to webinars, newsletters, and case studies about the Common Core were also highlighted on the CCSSO CC Ready webpage. 

The website of the Common Core State Standards Initiative is the official website of the Common Core State standards. This website is all about the Common Core.  As the official site, its primary function is to promote the standards, and to have a broad influence on the adaptation of the standards.  The site listed all the standards in mathematics and reading for all grade levels.  

It appeared that the crafters of the Common Core Standards is interested in soliciting parental support of the standards.  To accomplish this goal, the site debunked the common myths about the standards and provided the facts  about the development, intent, content, and implementation of the standards (“Myths vs Facts,” 2015).The site included information “what parents should know” and “why common core is important to your child” in an attempt to influence parents’ views on the standards. I found it interesting to find out that the Common Core State Standard’s website is hosted and maintained by the Chief State School Officers (“About the Standards,” 2015). 

One website that was not listed for this activity was United States Department of Education.  On its website, the federal governments stated that the federal government has not been involved in the designs of these standards. Although the federal government was not directly involved in the creation of the standards, it is clear that the Obama Administration has encouraged the adoption of the Common Core Standards.  According to the US Department of Education, “the federal government has supported this state-led effort of and adopting rigorous standards in English language arts and mathematics that build toward college and career readiness in part, through ESEA Flexibility, which is helping to ensure that higher standards are being implemented for all students and that educators are being supported in transitioning to new standards” (College-and Career-Ready Standards, n.d.).

In addition, the federal government’s Race to the Top competitive grant program effectively drove states to adopt the Common Core Standards.  To qualify, states must replicate effective education reform strategies in one of four significant areas, one of which is adopting internationally benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the workplace (“President Obama National Competition,” 2009).  Although states are not required to adopt the Common Core standards in order to qualify for Race to the Top federal dollars, 45 States and the District of Columbia have adopted the Common Core Standards because of the lure to receive top dollars from the Race to the Top grant program (“States Have A Choice,” 2013). 

The District of Columbia Public Schools, DCPS, has adopted the Common Core Standards. As a teacher at DC Public Schools,  the common core plays out directly inside my classroom.  Every lesson that I teach must be aligned to the common core.  Every assessment must be aligned to the Common Core.  Every reading, writing, and social studies assignment that I give must be directed linked back to a common core standard.  The common core standards drive instruction, and thereby children are assessed on what they know according to the common core standards.  The influence of educational organizations, policy groups, and the U.S. Department of Education on the implementation of the Common Core Standards is directly felt in my classroom, the classroom at my school, and arguably every classroom in the District of Columbia. 

It can be concluded that the National Education Association, The American Federation of Teachers, The Council of Chief State School Officers, and the United States Department of Education have been influential in states’ adoption and implementation of the Common Core Standards. Using their website platform and their position of influence, these educational organizations, policy groups, and the U.S. Department of Education promoted the adoption of the Common Core Standards. These agencies and organizations disseminated information about the Common Core and supported its ongoing implementation through promotions, endorsements, and funding.  Almost all states have opted to adopt the Common Core Standards. To date, forty five states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Common Core Standards.    

Works Cited

About CC Ready [Information on page] (2015) Retrieved from http://www.ccsso.org/CCReady_Discover_State_Created_Tools_Resources_and_Standards_Implementation_Success_Stories/About_CC_Ready.html

About NEA [Information on a page] (2015). Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/2580.htm

About The Standards [Information on a page]. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/

College-and Career-Ready Standards [Information on page].(n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/k-12reforms/standards

Common Core Articles and Multimedia [Information on a page]. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/56585.htm

Common Core Research and Tools [Information on a page]. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/55486.htm

Debunking Myths of the Common Core [Information on a page]. (2014, October 8). Retrieved from http://www.aft.org/position/common-core-state-standards/debunking-myths-common-core

FAQs about the Common Core State Standards [Information on a page]. (2014, October 27). Retrieved from http://www.aft.org/education/common-core/frequently-asked-questions

Myths vs Facts [Information on a page]. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/myths-vs-facts/

President Obama, US Secretary of Education Duncan Announce National Competition to Advance School Reform [Press Release]. (2009, July 24). Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/07/07242009.html

Vision and Goal Statement. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/56614.htm

Williams, B. (2013, August 18). States Have A Choice In Adopting Common Core Standards for K-12 Education [Bog post]. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-williams/common-core-standards_b_3461006.html