PublicMind Polling, Surveys, Market Analysis

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For immediate release Thursday, February 19, 2015                                   13 pages

Contact:  Dan Cassino 973.896.7072  dcassino@fdu.edu   @dancassino

Misconceptions fuel deep unpopularity of Common Core

As millions of students across the country prepare to take the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) exam or the Smarter Balanced Assessment, the most recent national survey from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind finds that the educational reform behind these standardized tests remains a mystery to many Americans and faces widespread disapproval.

 Currently, 40 percent of Americans say they disapprove of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), often referred to as just the “Common Core,” with 42 percent who are unsure and 17 percent who favor the standards. The goal of the Core is to establish national standards for learning so that all students, regardless of where they live, leave high school with the skills necessary to enter college or the labor force.

Interestingly, a much greater proportion of Americans – 40 percent – say that they approve of attempts by the federal government to establish educational standards than approve of the Common Core. This indicates that opposition to the Common Core – which was put together by the states, rather than by the federal government – isn’t based on a generalized dislike of standards, but of the Common Core in particular. A majority of Democrats (55%) say that they approve of federal attempts to establish standards, along with only 25 percent of Republicans but only 27 percent of Democrats and 9 percent of Republicans say that they approve of the Common Core.

“The CCSS was designed to arm high school graduates with the knowledge and skills required to succeed in college and their future careers. The Common Core State Standards were internationally benchmarked and intended to ensure consistent expectations across states. The effort to raise standards was meant to be encouraging. However, the issue has not been publicized effectively to the community, and especially to parents. Political ideology is affecting a nationwide effort to increase achievement in all children,” said Dr. Vicki Cohen, director of the Peter Sammartino School of Education at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

The same survey finds that most Americans say that they don’t know very much about the Common Core standards, and they seem to be right: misconceptions about the content of the standards are widespread – almost half of Americans (44%) think that sex education are part of them – and are strongly connected with opposition to them.

Forty-seven percent of Americans say that they’ve heard “some” or “a lot” about the Common Core standards, leaving the majority (52%) to say that they’ve heard “just a little,” or “nothing at all” People who say that they’ve heard about the standards are more likely to say that they disapprove: those who say that they’ve heard “a lot” about them disapprove 58 to 36 percent; those who say that they’ve heard “nothing” approve of them 43 to 16 percent.

“Parents are very concerned about the amount of testing that is being required to assess students on the Core Common State Standards. They are also confused with the new way that mathematics is being taught, with an emphasis on understanding how a problem is solved. Their children are being asked to read more complex and difficult books. Their exposure to the CCSS has been influenced by these factors. Parents need to understand why the standards are important steps to raising achievement in literacy and math. Teachers need more time to implement the standards effectively and inform parents of their successes,” said Cohen.

A lack of information is evident from misconceptions about what topics are included in the standards. In the survey, Americans were also asked if four specific topics – sexual education, global warming, evolution, and the American Revolution – are included in the Common Core. In reality, none of these are part of the Common Core standards, which only include topics in math and reading. Still, two-thirds of Americans say that at least one of these is in the standards, with 37 percent saying that three or four of them are.

Forty-four percent of Americans think that sexual education is included in the Common Core, and 43 percent think that Common Core includes teaching about evolution, with an equal number saying that global warming is part of the standards. A larger group, 48 percent, say that the American Revolution is covered in the Common Core. Very few Americans know that these topics aren’t included: only around one-in-ten correctly identify that they’re not included in the standards. Respondents who say that they know more about Common Core were actually more likely to hold these sort of misperceptions: 40 percent who say that they’ve heard “a lot” about Common Core think that three or four of the false items are in the standards, compared with 32 percent of those who say that they’ve heard “nothing at all.”

“In the absence of information about the Common Core, Americans are projecting their own beliefs about government influence on public education on to them,” said Dan Cassino, associate professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and an analyst for the poll. “Those who think that the government is trying to indoctrinate their children with beliefs they’re opposed to think that the Common Core is the way they’re doing it.”

Among Democrats and independents, more false beliefs about the inclusion of topics that might be controversial – sex education, global warming and evolution – corresponds with greater support for Common Core. Only 21 percent of Democrats who correctly say that none of these are included approve of the Common Core, with 23 percent disapproving. In contrast, 33 percent of Democrats who incorrectly think that all of them are included approve the Common Core, with only 27 percent disapproving.

“The American public is clearly confused about what the CCSS is and isn’t. These standards establish competencies in literacy and math that are required for children to succeed in college and their careers. The standards were a joint effort from 43 states, and policymakers should be concerned that opposition seems to be fueled by partisan beliefs and misinformation about what it contains,” said Cohen.

Among Republicans, false beliefs about these controversial topics lead to a dislike of the standards: 34 percent of those who know that none of the controversial topics are included disapprove of Common Core; among those who think that all of them are included, disapproval is 54 percent.

“Disapproval of the Common Core among Republicans is driven by false beliefs about what’s in the standards,” said Cassino. “But Democrats and independents seem to like the standards because of what they incorrectly think is included.”

Americans have very mixed views about who, exactly, should be taking the lead in making educational policy. When offered the options of the federal government, state government, local governments or school officials, 39 percent of Americans said that school officials should take the lead, 23 percent chose the states, and 21 percent favored local governments. Only 11 percent nationwide said that the federal government should be in charge. Views on this vary with political predispositions: 32 percent of Republicans say that states should be in charge, with only 17 percent of Democrats agreeing, and Democrats are more likely (43%) to say that school officials should take the lead, while only 31 percent of Republicans say the same.

 

The Fairleigh Dickinson University poll of 964 was conducted by telephone with both landline and cell phones from December 8 through December 15, 2014 and has a margin of error of +/- three percentage points.

Methodology, questions, and tables on the web at: http://publicmind.fdu.edu

Radio actualities at 201.692.2846                For more information, please call 201.692.7032

Methodology

The most recent survey by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind was conducted by telephone from December 8 through December 15 using a randomly selected sample of 964 adults nationwide. One can be 95 percent confident that the error attributable to sampling has a range of +/- three percentage points. The margin of error for subgroups is larger and varies by the size of that subgroup. Survey results are also subject to non-sampling error. This kind of error, which cannot be measured, arises from a number of factors including, but not limited to, non-response (eligible individuals refusing to be interviewed), question wording, the order in which questions are asked, and variations among interviewers.

PublicMind interviews are conducted by Opinion America of Cedar Knolls, NJ, with professionally trained interviewers using a CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) system. Random selection is achieved by computerized random-digit dialing. This technique gives every person with a landline phone number (including those with unlisted numbers) an equal chance of being selected.

Landline households are supplemented with a separate, randomly selected sample of cell-phone respondents interviewed in the same time frame. The total combined sample is mathematically weighted to match known demographics of age, race and gender.

The sample was purchased from Marketing Systems Group and the research was funded by Fairleigh Dickinson University.

From what you've heard about it, do you approve or disapprove of the new Common Core Standards initiative?  [Option Order Randomly Determined]

 

 

Party ID

Education

 

All

Dem

Indp

Rep

HS or Less

Some College

College +

Approve

17

27%

14%

9%

16%

14%

20%

Disapprove

40

32%

45%

48%

34%

35%

46%

Don't know  (Vol)

42

41%

38%

42%

48%

50%

33%

Refused  (Vol)

1

1%

3%

1%

1%

2%

1%

 

 

From what you've heard about it, do you approve or disapprove of the new Common Core Standards initiative?  [Option Order Randomly Determined]

 

 

Gender

Race

 

All

Male

Female

White

Non-White

Approve

17

22%

12%

16%

20%

Disapprove

40

37%

42%

42%

35%

Don't know  (Vol)

42

39%

44%

41%

45%

Refused  (Vol)

1

1%

2%

1%

0%

 

 

From what you've heard, do you approve or disapprove of attempts by the federal government to establish educational standards?  [Option Order Randomly Determined]

 

 

Party ID

Education

 

All

Dem

Indp

Rep

HS or Less

Some College

College +

Approve

40

55%

36%

25%

39%

40%

40%

Disapprove

38

26%

33%

54%

33%

34%

43%

Don't know  (Vol)

22

18%

29%

20%

28%

25%

16%

Refused  (Vol)

1

1%

3%

1%

 

0%

2%

 

 

From what you've heard, do you approve or disapprove of attempts by the federal government to establish educational standards? [Option Order Randomly Determined]

 

 

Gender

Race

 

All

Male

Female

White

Non-White

Approve

40

42%

38%

38%

44%

Disapprove

38

37%

38%

43%

25%

Don't know  (Vol)

22

21%

22%

19%

30%

Refused  (Vol)

1

1%

2%

1%

1%

 

 

How much have you heard about educational reform known as the Common Core State Standards Initiative?

 

 

Party ID

Education

 

 

Dem

Indp

Rep

HS or Less

Some College

College +

A lot

18

22%

20%

27%

12%

15%

34%

Some

19

24%

26%

26%

15%

25%

28%

Just a little

14

18%

16%

18%

17%

20%

16%

Nothing at all

26

35%

38%

29%

54%

39%

21%

Don't know  (Vol)

1

1%

1%

1%

3%

1%

0%

 

 

How much have you heard about educational reform known as the Common Core State Standards Initiative?

 

 

Gender

Race

 

 

Male

Female

White

Non-White

A lot

23

21%

25%

25%

15%

Some

24

24%

25%

26%

19%

Just a little

18

19%

16%

19%

14%

Nothing at all

34

36%

33%

29%

50%

Don't know  (Vol)

1

1%

1%

1%

2%

 

 

Sex Education?

 

 

Party ID

Education

 

All

Dem

Indp

Rep

HS or Less

Some College

College +

Yes

44

41%

45%

47%

49%

48%

40%

No

16

22%

14%

11%

10%

16%

18%

Don't know  (Vol)

40

37%

40%

42%

40%

36%

42%

Refused  (Vol)

1

0%

1%

1%

1%

0%

0%

 

 

Sex Education?

 

 

Gender

Race

 

All

Male

Female

White

Non-White

Yes

44

48%

41%

42%

48%

No

16

14%

17%

16%

18%

Don't know  (Vol)

40

38%

41%

42%

35%

Refused  (Vol)

1

1%

1%

1%

 

 

Evolution?

 

 

Party ID

Education

 

All

Dem

Indp

Rep

HS or Less

Some College

College +

Yes

43

46%

40%

41%

39%

41%

46%

No

17

16%

17%

20%

16%

22%

15%

Don't know  (Vol)

39

37%

41%

39%

43%

37%

38%

Refused  (Vol)

1

0%

2%

0%

2%

0%

0%

 

 

Evolution?

 

 

Gender

Race

 

All

Male

Female

White

Non-White

Yes

43

46%

39%

42%

43%

No

17

17%

18%

18%

18%

Don't know  (Vol)

39

36%

42%

39%

39%

Refused  (Vol)

1

1%

1%

1%

 

 

 

Global Warming?

 

 

Party ID

Education

 

All

Dem

Indp

Rep

HS or Less

Some College

College +

Yes

43

48%

37%

43%

46%

41%

44%

No

17

16%

20%

16%

11%

19%

17%

Don't know  (Vol)

39

35%

42%

41%

41%

39%

38%

Refused  (Vol)

1

0%

1%

1%

1%

1%

0%

 

 

Global Warming?

 

 

Gender

Race

 

All

Male

Female

White

Non-White

Yes

43

42.6%

44.2%

41.4%

48.4%

No

17

19.1%

14.1%

16.8%

15.6%

Don't know  (Vol)

39

37.7%

41.1%

41.1%

35.9%

Refused  (Vol)

1

.6%

.6%

.6%

 

 
 

The American Revolution?

 

 

Party ID

Education

 

All

Dem

Indp

Rep

HS or Less

Some College

College +

Yes

48

55%

43%

44%

43%

50%

49%

No

13

10%

14%

16%

14%

13%

13%

Don't know  (Vol)

39

35%

43%

40%

43%

36%

38%

Refused  (Vol)

1

0%

1%

0%

 

0%

0%

 

 

The American Revolution?

 

 

Gender

Race

 

All

Male

Female

White

Non-White

Yes

48

51%

45%

47%

49%

No

13

13%

13%

14%

12%

Don't know  (Vol)

39

36%

42%

39%

38%

Refused  (Vol)

1

0%

1%

0%

 

 

 

Overall Number of False Beliefs About the Common Core (out of 4)

 

 

Party ID

 

All

Dem

Indp

Rep

None

33

29%

40%

32%

One

12

14%

8%

12%

Two

18

16%

18%

19%

Three

18

18%

17%

21%

Four

19

22%

17%

16%

 

 

Overall Number of False Beliefs About the Common Core (out of 4)

 

 

Gender

Race

 

All

Male

Female

White

Non-White

None

33

32.4%

34.0%

32.8%

32.8%

One

12

9.4%

14.3%

12.5%

11.7%

Two

18

17.4%

18.3%

19.4%

15.2%

Three

18

20.0%

16.5%

20.2%

13.7%

Four

19

20.8%

16.9%

15.1%

26.6%

 

 

Overall Number of False Beliefs About the Common Core (out of 4)

 

 

Heard About CC

Approve of CC

 

All

A Lot

Nothing at all

Approve

Disapprove

None

33

22%

49%

17%

23%

One

12

17%

7%

13%

16%

Two

18

20%

12%

19%

23%

Three

18

25%

13%

21%

22%

Four

19

15%

20%

30%

16%

 

 

Overall Number of False Beliefs About the Common Core (out of 4)

 

Heard About Common Core

 

Democrats

Independents

Republicans

 

A Lot

Nothing

A Lot

Nothing

A Lot

Nothing

None

25%

44%

26%

56%

18%

49%

One

20%

8%

11%

2%

18%

7%

Two

16%

8%

26%

12%

20%

15%

Three

21%

14%

26%

15%

30%

11%

Four

19%

26%

11%

15%

14%

19%

 

 

Overall Number of False Beliefs About the Common Core (out of 4)

 

Approve of Common Core

 

Democrats

Independents

Republicans

 

Approve

Disapprove

Approve

Disapprove

Approve

Disapprove

None

23%

17%

8%

30%

12%

23%

One

8%

23%

16%

10%

27%

15%

Two

18%

22%

24%

25%

18%

21%

Three

25%

18%

20%

20%

18%

27%

Four

27%

21%

32%

14%

24%

14%

 

 

Number of False Beliefs on Controversial Topics (out of 3)

 

 

Gender

Race

 

All

Male

Female

White

Non-White

None

37%

36%

39%

38%

36%

One

19%

19%

19%

19%

21%

Two

21%

19%

22%

24%

13%

Three

24%

27%

21%

20%

31%

 

 

Number of False Beliefs on Controversial Topics (out of 3)

 

 

Party ID

Education

 

All

Dem

Indp

Rep

HS or Less

Some College

College +

None

37%

34%

43%

36%

39%

33%

38%

One

19%

21%

15%

18%

14%

26%

17%

Two

21%

20%

19%

23%

20%

20%

20%

Three

24%

25%

23%

23%

27%

21%

24%

 

 

Number of False Beliefs on Controversial Topics (out of 3)

 

Approve of Common Core

 

Democrats

Independents

Republicans

 

Approve

Disapprove

Approve

Disapprove

Approve

Disapprove

None

27%

25%

12%

37%

31%

26%

One

17%

32%

36%

15%

19%

21%

Two

26%

22%

20%

26%

25%

28%

Three

30%

21%

32%

22%

25%

25%

 

 

From what you've heard about it, do you approve or disapprove of the new Common Core Standards initiative?  [Option Order Randomly Determined]

 

Number of False Beliefs About Common Core

 

Democrats

Democrats

Republicans

 

None

Two

Four

None

Two

Four

None

Two

Four

Approve

20%

29%

32%

3%

19%

27%

4%

9%

14%

Disapprove

18%

42%

30%

35%

63%

37%

34%

54%

43%

Don't know  (Vol)

61%

25%

38%

58%

16%

33%

60%

37%

43%

Refused  (Vol)

1%

3%

 

4%

3%

3%

3%

 

 

 

 

From what you've heard about it, do you approve or disapprove of the new Common Core Standards initiative?  [Option Order Randomly Determined]

 

Number of False Beliefs on Controversial Topics (out of 3)

 

Democrats

Independents

Republicans

 

None

Two

Three

None

Two

Three

None

Two

Three

Approve

21%

35%

33%

4%

15%

20%

8%

10%

10%

Disapprove

23%

35%

27%

39%

61%

43%

34%

60%

54%

Don't know  (Vol)

56%

30%

40%

53%

21%

35%

55%

30%

36%

Refused  (Vol)

1%

 

 

4%

3%

3%

2%

 

 

 

 

In your opinion, who should take the most leadership in making educational policy?

 

 

Party ID

Education

 

All

Dem

Indp

Rep

HS or Less

Some College

College +

The federal government

11

18%

8%

6%

7%

11%

13%

The state government

23

17%

19%

32%

21%

26%

22%

Local governments like towns and cities

21

17%

21%

25%

23%

20%

19%

School officials like teachers and principals

39

43%

46%

31%

43%

35%

39%

Parents (Vol)

3

2%

2%

5%

2%

5%

3%

Students  (Vol)

0

 

 

0%

 

0%

 

Don't know  (Vol)

3

 4%

3%

1%

3%

2%

3%

Refused  (Vol)

0

1%

 

 

0%

 

0%

 

 

In your opinion, who should take the most leadership in making educational policy?

 

 

Gender

Race

 

All

Male

Female

White

Non-White

The federal government

11

10%

11%

9%

16%

The state government

23

23%

23%

27%

16%

Local governments like towns and cities

21

24%

18%

20%

21%

School officials like teachers and principals

39

34%

42%

38%

43%

Parents (Vol)

3

5%

2%

4%

2%

Students  (Vol)

0

 

0%

0%

 

Don't know  (Vol)

3

3%

3%

3%

2%

Refused  (Vol)

0

0%

1%

0%

 

 

 

 

As far as you are aware, is the Common Core State Standards Initiative supposed to establish standards for what children should learn or establish standards for what teachers should teach?

 

 

Party ID

Education

 

All

Dem

Indp

Rep

HS or Less

Some College

College +

Standards for what children should learn

37

44%

29%

33%

32%

33%

42%

Standards for what teachers should teach

23

21%

20%

28%

18%

27%

23%

Both (Vol)

12

9%

16%

12%

14%

11%

11%

Neither (Vol)

3

2%

3%

3%

3%

3%

3%

Don't know  (Vol)

25

23%

30%

23%

32%

26%

21%

Refused  (Vol)

1

1%

1%

1%

2%

0%

1%

 

 

 As far as you are aware, is the Common Core State Standards Initiative supposed to establish standards for what children should learn or establish standards for what teachers should teach?

 

 

Gender

Race

 

All

Male

Female

White

Non-White

Standards for what children should learn

37

37%

36%

36%

37%

Standards for what teachers should teach

23

21%

25%

24%

19%

Both (Vol)

12

12%

11%

12%

11%

Neither (Vol)

3

2%

4%

2%

2%

Don't know  (Vol)

25

27%

23%

24%

30%

Refused  (Vol)

1

1%

1%

1%

 

 

 

Exact Question Wording and Order

US1 through US3 released December 17, 2014

 

EDUC1            Now let me ask you about something called the Common Core. How much have

you heard about educational reform known as the Common Core State Standards Initiative?

1          A lot

2          Some

3          Just a little

4          Nothing at all

8          DK/Refused (vol)

 

 

EDUC2A          From what you’ve heard, do you approve or disapprove of attempts by the federal government to establish educational standards?

1          Approve

2          Disapprove

8          DK (vol)

9          Refused (vol)

 

 

EDUC2B          From what you’ve heard about it, do you approve or disapprove [RANDOMIZE] of the new Common Core Standards initiative?

1          Approve

2          Disapprove

8          DK (vol)

9          Refused (vol)

 

EDUC3            As far as you are aware, is the Common Core State Standards Initiative supposed

to establish standards for what all children should learn OR establish standards for how all

teachers should teach? [Rotate]

1          Standards for what children should learn

2          Standards for what teachers should teach

3          Both (vol)

4          Neither (vol)

8          DK/Refused (vol)

 

EDUC4            In your opinion, who should take the most leadership in making educational policy? [RANDOMIZE LIST FOR OPTIONS 1 THRU 4]

1          The federal government

2          The state government

3          Local governments like towns and cities

4          School officials like teachers and principals

5          Parents (vol)

6          Students (vol)

7          Combination (vol) [Ask “IF you had to pick just one…”]

8          DK/Refused (vol)

 

EDUC5            To the best of your knowledge, does the Common Core include teaching regarding … [Rotate]

EDUC6A         Sex education?

EDUC6B         Evolution?

EDUC6C         Global Warming?

EDUC6D         The American Revolution?

 

1          Yes

2          No

8          DK/Refused (vol)

 

[Rotate EDUC7A and EDUC7B]

 

EDUC6A          Do you think it’s fair to punish teachers based on how well their students do on standardized tests?

1          Yes

2          No

8          DK/Refused (vol)

 

EDUC6B          Do you think it’s fair to reward teachers based on how well their students do on standardized tests?

1          Yes

2          No

8          DK/Refused (vol)

 

 

 

 

Sample Characteristics

 

 

Registered voters

N = 994; MoE = +/- 3

Gender

Male

49%

 

Female

51%

Age

18-29

22%

 

30-44

26%

 

45-59

26%

 

60+

24%

 

Refused

1%

Race

White

68%

 

African American

10%

 

Hispanic

13%

 

Asian

3%

 

Other/Refused

7%

Party (with leaners)

Dem

39%

 

Ind/DK/Refused

27%

 

Repub

35%