The implementation of the Common Core State Standards has posed a number of challenges for school leaders. This study applies a policy implementation conceptual framework to analyze data gathered from 46 interviews in six states. Findings suggest the existence of multiple barriers to Common Core State Standards implementation. To promote implementation, states need to increase local capacity, build will to implement, and engage in information campaigns that promote the Common Core beyond an audience of educators and to the public at large.

Armstrong, D., Gosling, A., Weinman, J., Marteau, T. (1997). The place of inter-rater reliability in qualitative research: An empirical study. Sociology, 31, 597-606.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI
Center on Education Policy . (2011). States’ progress and challenges in implementing Common Core State Standards. Washington, DC: Author.
Google Scholar
Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Google Scholar
Diamond, J. B. (2015). Implementing the Common Core: How individuals, organizational resources, and instructional practice matter. In Supovitz, J. A., Spillane, J. P. (Eds.), Challenging Standards: Navigating conflict and building capacity in the era of the Common Core (pp. 25-33). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Google Scholar
Education Commission of the States . (2015). Core Commons: Emerging strategies and issues in implementing the Common Core. Denver, CO: Author.
Google Scholar
Firestone, W. A. (1989). Using reform: Conceptualizing district initiative. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 11, 151-164.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals
Fowler, F. C. (2013). Policy studies for educational leaders: An introduction (4th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education.
Google Scholar
Glaser, B. (1978). Theoretical sensitivity: Advances in the methodology of grounded theory. Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press.
Google Scholar
Glaser, B. G., Strauss, A. L. (2008). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research (3rd ed.). Piscataway, NJ: Aldine Transaction.
Google Scholar
Gross, N., Giacquinta, J. B., Bernstein, M. (1971). Implementing organizational innovations. New York, NY: Basic.
Google Scholar
Jochim, A., Lavery, L. (2015). The evolving politics of the Common Core: Issues in governance studies (No. 69). Washington, DC: Brookings.
Google Scholar
Kober, N., Rentner, D. S. (2011). Common Core State Standards: Progress and challenges in school districts’ implementation. Washington, DC: Center on Education Policy.
Google Scholar
Lee, C. D. (2015). The infrastructure and conceptual challenges of the Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts as a case. In J. A. Supovitz, Spillane, J. P. (Eds.), Challenging Standards: Navigating conflict and building capacity in the era of the Common Core (pp. 15-23). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Google Scholar
Loveless, T. (2015). How well are American students learning? Washington, DC: Brookings.
Google Scholar
McDermott, K. A. (2015). Implementation politics and the Common Core. In Supovitz, J. A., Spillane, J. P. (Eds.), Challenging Standards: Navigating conflict and building capacity in the era of the Common Core (pp. 155-164). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Google Scholar
McDonnell, L. M., Elmore, R. F. (1987). Getting the job done: Alternative policy instruments. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 9, 133-152.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals
McGuinn, P. (2015). Core confusion: A practitioner’s guide to understanding its complicated politics. In Supovitz, J. A., Spillane, J. P. (Eds.), Challenging Standards: Navigating conflict and building capacity in the era of the Common Core (pp. 145-153). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Google Scholar
McLaughlin, M. W. (1987). Learning from experience: Lessons from policy implementation. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 9, 171-178.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals
McLaughlin, M. W., Glaab, L., Carrasco, I. H. (2014). Implementing Common Core State Standards in California: A report from the field. Stanford: Policy Analysis for California Education.
Google Scholar
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Google Scholar
O’Day, J. A. (2015). A window of opportunity: The politics and policies of Common Core implementation on California. In Supovitz, J. A., Spillane, J. P. (Eds.), Challenging Standards: Navigating conflict and building capacity in the era of the Common Core (pp. 35-43). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Google Scholar
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers . (2015). PARCC states. Retrieved from http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-states
Google Scholar
Patton, M. Q. (2014). Qualitative research and evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Google Scholar
Polikoff, M. (2014). Common Core State Standards assessments: Challenges and opportunities. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress.
Google Scholar
Polikoff, M. S. (2015). Overcoming the challenges of choosing curriculum materials: A systematic approach to evaluating Common Core alignment. In Supovitz, J. A., Spillane, J. P. (Eds.), Challenging Standards: Navigating conflict and building capacity in the era of the Common Core (pp. 59-68). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Google Scholar
Porter, W., Riley, R., Towne, L., Chalk, S. M., Hightower, A. M., Lloyd, S. C., . . . Swanson, C. B. (2013). Moving forward: A national perspective on state’s progress in Common Core State Standards implementation planning. Seattle, WA: Education First and Editorial Projects in Education.
Google Scholar
Remillard, J., Taton, J. (2015). Rewriting myths about curriculum materials and teaching to new standards. In Supovitz, J. A., Spillane, J. P. (Eds.), Challenging Standards: Navigating conflict and building capacity in the era of the Common Core (pp. 49-58). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Google Scholar
SmarterBalanced Assessment Consortium . (2014). SmarterBalanced states approve achievement level recommendations. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/media/achievement-levels-and-scale-scores-final.pdf
Google Scholar
Smith, J., Gasparian, H. (forthcoming). Development of a 50-state typology of education governance. International Journal of Educational Reform.
Google Scholar
Spillane, J. P. (2000). Cognition and policy implementation: District policymakers and the reform of mathematics education. Cognition and Instruction, 18, 141-179.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Spillane, J. P., Callahan, K. A. (2000). Implementing state standards for science education: What district policy makers make of the hoopla. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 37, 401-425.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Spillane, J. P., Hopkins, M. (2015). School-subject variation in educational infrastructures: A cautionary implementation tale. In Supovitz, J. A., Spillane, J. P. (Eds.), Challenging Standards: Navigating conflict and building capacity in the era of the Common Core (pp. 35-43). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Google Scholar
Supovitz, J. A., Spillane, J. P., (Eds.). (2015). Challenging Standards: Navigating conflict and building capacity in the era of the Common Core. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Thier, M., Smith, J., Pitts, C., Anderson, R. (2016). Influential spheres: Examining actors’ perceptions of education governance. International Journal of Education Policy & Leadership, 11(8). Retrieved from http://journals.sfu.ca/ijepl/index.php/ijepl/article/view/682
Google Scholar
Willis, G. B. (2005). Cognitive interviewing: A tool for improving questionnaire design. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Google Scholar | Crossref
View access options

My Account

Welcome
You do not have access to this content.



Chinese Institutions / 中国用户

Click the button below for the full-text content

请点击以下获取该全文

Institutional Access

does not have access to this content.

Purchase Content

24 hours online access to download content

Your Access Options


Purchase

BUL-article-ppv for $36.00

Article available in:

Related Articles

Citing articles: 0