Planning Grant to The Spencer Foundation: "Under Construction: The Rise, Spread, and Consequences of the Common Core State Standards Initiative in American Education"

The planning grant will support the preparation of a major grant proposal submission to the Spencer Foundation. The proposal that we are planning to submit is tentatively entitled, “Under Construction: The Rise, Spread, and Consequences of the Common Core State Standards Initiative in American Education.” The research we are proposing to conduct is multifaceted in nature and has been discussed on several occasions with Spencer Foundation officers and board members. At the broadest level, the research involves studying how the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) initiative has been shaped by (and is shaping) organizational processes in the American education sector as whole. At an intermediate level, the research will examine how state education systems are organizing for instructional improvement in light of the CCSS initiative and with what consequences for local educational organization and instructional practice. The research also will include a targeted study of the extent to which the CCSS is leading to new patterns of instructional practice in schools and the conditions that affect any such trends. And finally, the research will include studies examining the extent to which the CCSS initiative is leading to changes in the stratification of student achievement outcomes within and between states in the US.