Category Archives: Data

Teachers Want More Time to Prepare for Common Core, Survey Finds

While most teachers support the Common Core State Standards, teachers acknowledge there are challenges around implementation of the standards, with a large majority saying they need more time to find materials and prepare lessons, a report from Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation finds.

Based on a survey of more than twenty thousand math, English language arts, science, and social studies teachers nationwide, the report, Primary Sources: America's Teachers on Teaching in an Era of Change (216 pages, PDF), found that the percentage of teachers who believe the new standards will improve the quality of the education their students receive increases as implementation of the standards progresses.
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NCES Releases the 2013 Mathematics and Reading Trial Urban District Assessment Report Card

NCES Releases the 2013 Mathematics and Reading Trial Urban District Assessment Report CardSince 2011, fourth-graders in Atlanta, Chicago, the District of Columbia (DCPS), and Los Angeles posted larger score increases in mathematics than their peers in the nation. Students in eight districts scored higher in 2013 than in 2011 in at least one subject and grade combination with some districts making gains across multiple subject and/or grades. DCPS was the only district that scored higher at both grades in mathematics and reading. Students in Los Angeles scored higher in three of four subject and grade combinations. There were also several score declines when comparing 2013 to 2011.

In 2013, average mathematics and reading scores for fourth- and eighth-grade public school students in large cities (populations of 250,000 or more) were lower than the scores for public school students in the nation. Mathematics and reading scores in three urban districts (Austin, Charlotte, and Hillsborough County) were higher in 2013 than the scores for large cities at grades 4 and 8. Scores in nine urban districts (Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, District of Columbia, Fresno, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia) were lower in both subjects and both grades.

Find complete results and sample questions, and download the First Look at The Nation's Report Card: 2013 Mathematics and Reading Trial Urban District Assessment.

The Nation's Report Card is a product of the National Center for Education Statistics at the Institute of Education Sciences, part of the U.S. Department of Education.