Date of Graduation

12-2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Curriculum and Instruction

Advisor/Mentor

Bengtson, Ed

Committee Member

Goering, Christian Z.

Second Committee Member

Holt, Carleton R.

Keywords

Education; Common core state standards; Partnership for assessment of readiness for college and careers; Standards; Teachers

Abstract

This study examined the latest mandated government policy of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), which fully took effect during the 2014-2015 school year. The study sought to look at these changes through the eyes of a group of elementary teachers in rural Illinois as they work with and through these policy mandates during their initial year of implementation.

The study was conducted over the course of the 2014-2015 school year. Data was gathered through a three interview sequence, site visits and the administration of the SOCQ 75 instrument before and at the conclusion of the school year. All three data sources were triangulated to see if they were indicating the same perceptions.

The findings were that in this district the teachers were not experiencing negative perceptions of the CCSS, in fact it was quite the opposite. The teachers were in favor of the new standards. They generally felt they were vastly superior to the old Illinois Learning Standards and preferred to work with them. In comparison to the positive perceptions of the CCSS, the perceptions of PARCC were overwhelmingly negative. As far down as Pre-K the teachers felt that the PARCC was an overbearing influence on not only what they teach, but the emphasis on PARCC created undue stress on the teachers, and is a negative influence on the atmosphere of the school.

As mentioned previously, the focus of this study was the perceptions of teachers concerning both the CCSS and PARCC. During the course of the study there were some themes that emerged during the study and warrant further research. The most notable is the role that the administrators in the district played in the adoption of the CCSS in the district. The teachers indicated that the administrators in the district made the adoption of the CCSS easy for them.

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