The project builds on earlier work of the National Research Council's Committee on Investigating the Influence of National Standards and applies that framework to a project to develop a research agenda for studying the implementation and impact of the recently released mathematics Common Core Standards. The project will conduct interviews with both proponents and critics of the standards and identify theories of action for how these standards might influence the system. The various options for research will be considered by a broader group of mathematics education and policy researchers at a conference that will result in development of priority research agendas, including a description of indicators, existing measures, and measures that will need to be developed to conduct the research. The project is appropriate for a RAPID because it enables timely collection of baseline data and information about how the standards are being received by key stakeholders both at the national and state levels.
Horizon Research, Inc. worked with more than 80 education policy and mathematics education researchers to prepare a research agenda for studying the influence of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). As of November, 2011, the CCSSM have been adopted by more than 40 states as their grades K-12 mathematics standards. The widespread adoption of these common standards is unprecedented in US education, and is likely to have substantial impacts on mathematics education nationally. The research agenda Horizon Research, Inc. developed recommends priorities for research studies on the CCSSM in areas expected to have broad impact, and offers guidance on combining and comparing evidence from research with strong intellectual merit. The recommended priorities for research, described in two reports from the project, include: A. Case studies of (1) the development of assessments for students by multi-state consortia; (2) the influences of the multi-state consortia assessments; (3) the processes of curriculum materials development/revision; (4) state/district responses to the CCSSM; and (5) teacher responses to the CCSSM. B. Studies of relationships (1) between how the mathematics curriculum is taught and K–12 student outcomes; (2) among how the mathematics curriculum is taught, student achievement, and college/career readiness; (3) between the results on the multi-state consortia assessments and other measures of student outcomes; and (4) among a variety of influences on how the mathematics curriculum is taught. C. Studies of the status, over time, of (1) K–12 students’ interests, aspirations, and achievement in mathematics; (2) students’ college/career readiness; (3) curriculum materials and their accompanying guidance for teachers; and (4) alignment of how the mathematics curriculum is taught and the CCSSM. D. Studies of teaching and learning that are designed to improve the CCSSM or the development of future mathematics standards.
