The challenges of implementing the Common Core State Standards at the classroom level resulted in political pushback to the reform initiative after the local media covered poor implementation decisions. This study explored how elementary school teachers and instructional leaders described teachers' progress along the implementation continuum for the standards. The concerns-based adoption model served as the conceptual framework for this study. This multicase study design consisted of 16 interviews of teachers and instructional leaders from 4 schools. Data were analyzed through a process that began with open coding followed by axial coding to identify themes. Teacher collaboration driving implementation progress emerged as a theme. The following needs also emerged: (a) training to make the required instructional shifts, (b) common processes to monitor implementation progress, and (c) aligned resources. The results led to a semester-long professional development project pairing a quality improvement process popular in other fields with the existing professional learning community structure to address the problem. This project built on the implementation progress made through working collaboratively to meet the training needs of the teachers; the project also included mechanisms for monitoring teachers' progress in implementing the standards. The project study provides insight and specific steps for teachers and leaders working to implement the standards. Students will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this project study through improvements in their teachers' instructional practice.

This qualitative case study addressed a suburban school district's placement of academically at-risk English language arts (ELA) 9th graders as the district transitions from the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK) to use of the unfamiliar and controversial Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). Based on the theoretical frameworks of the zone of proximal development, cognitive apprenticeship, and Bandura's model of self-efficacy, the purpose was to understand the characteristics of struggling (labeled 'academic') ELA students, placement practices and perceptions of these practices, and placement improvements. A purposeful sample was recruited of 7 staff members involved with placement and instruction of academic ELA students in Grades 7-10 for individual interviews. Using thematic data analysis, 4 themes emerged pertaining to the characteristics of academic students, placement practices, the efficacy of assessments used for placement, and improvements. Additionally, content analysis of data on academic students' standardized test scores and grades, collected from district reports, and research on reading assessments were conducted. Findings indicated consensus on the students' characteristics, but no standard procedure for placing academic ELA freshmen. A multiple measure placement matrix was created and incorporated in a white paper for the district's stakeholders, including administrators, teachers, guidance counselors, and child study team members. The implications for positive social change include a better understanding of academic students, their placement, and the benefits of communication, uniform policy, and the use of multiple measures to improve future placement practices.

This thesis investigates how teachers navigate Common Core State Standards, high-stakes testing, and teacher evaluation while creating their own curriculum to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. As a former teacher, I conducted a practitioner research case study of four successful colleagues in a bilingual Pre-K-8 school in Washington, DC. When given flexibility in curriculum, teachers integrated knowledge from their relationships with students to foster a caring environment that supports learning and created their own systems of accountability by deciding what data matters. Teachers centered student engagement as what drives their curriculum and used a variety of differentiation methods based on their own “toolbox” of instructional strategies. Findings suggest a flexible curriculum model allows teachers to be curriculum makers who actively go beyond the standards to integrate knowledge from their practice and relationships with students to create curriculum that successfully supports language learners.

This thesis investigates how teachers navigate Common Core State Standards, high-stakes testing, and teacher evaluation while creating their own curriculum to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. As a former teacher, I conducted a practitioner research case study of four successful colleagues in a bilingual Pre-K-8 school in Washington, DC. When given flexibility in curriculum, teachers integrated knowledge from their relationships with students to foster a caring environment that supports learning and created their own systems of accountability by deciding what data matters. Teachers centered student engagement as what drives their curriculum and used a variety of differentiation methods based on their own “toolbox” of instructional strategies. Findings suggest a flexible curriculum model allows teachers to be curriculum makers who actively go beyond the standards to integrate knowledge from their practice and relationships with students to create curriculum that successfully supports language learners.

This embedded mixed method study addresses the problems teachers have reported in believing themselves capable to implement the Common Core State Standards with students in special education. This study examines the effect professional development on implementing the Common Core State Standards had on the participating teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. The participants (N=21) in this study were drawn from a 20-day professional development for teachers based on implementing the Common Core State Standards. The instrument used in the study was the Teacher Efficacy Beliefs System-Self. Data were subject to both statistical and qualitative analysis. The results of this study provide insight into the self-efficacy beliefs of the participants during and shortly after professional development about implementing the Common Core State Standards with students in special education. The Wilcoxon test of signed ranks revealed a significant increase in the TEB-S subscale areas of Accommodating Individual Differences and Managing Learning Routines, but not in Positive Classroom Climate. Qualitative analysis of data found both support for the statistical findings and also contradicted the statistical findings. Further qualitative analysis showed that practices presented in the professional development such as using the arts, formative assessment, and technology were effective in maintaining their teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs after professional development. Factors unrelated to the professional development, such as support from administrators and colleagues and poorly working technology were not supportive in carrying over the increase in teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in implementing the Common Core State Standards with students in special education. The study is framed by Social Cognitive Theory and organized into 5 parts. Chapter I provides an overview of the study. Chapter II includes a review of literature related to teachers’ self-efficacy belief’s Common Core State Standards, and professional development. Chapter III describes the methodology of the study. Chapter IV presents the results of the analysis of data. Chapter IV reports the findings of the study and presents the conclusions of the study and ideas for future research.

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The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how teachers perceive the instructional support provided by district and school level administrators in implementation of the Common Core State Standards. The independent variables were staff development, small group development, direct individual assistance, technology, teacher age, and teacher years of experience. The dependent variable was teacher perception of the efficacy of the instructional support received. The phenomenological approach was specifically chosen for this study to give a voice to teachers who, for the majority, are often left unheard in the policy making process. By focusing on the similarities of the participants’ experiences, the stories collected in this study will help school and district level leadership in identifying how they can best support teachers in implementing the Common Core standards. The study took place in a metropolitan school district bolstering nearly 99,000 students. Schools were selected to participate using maximum variation sampling. This type of sampling ensures that findings reflect differences in perspective, which is ideal in qualitative study (Creswell, 2007). Schools were selected according to the following descriptors: Title I status, ethnicity of student population, English proficiency of student population, disabilities of student population, grade level of student population, and College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI) Score of the school. The participants represented elementary, middle, and high school settings. The data collected during this study were analyzed using the phenomenology research procedures of Moustakas (1994). The research resulted in a collection of significant statements that were clustered to define themes. The 11 themes were extracted from 28 teacher surveys, 5 teacher interviews, and 3 school-level administrator interviews. The findings of the study revealed that school level instructional support was perceived more favorable than district level instructional support in all areas: staff development, group development, and direct individual assistance. Small group development at both the district and school level was engaging, allowing teachers to discuss, plan, and create during the time spent together. Approximately half of the participants in the study indicated that they never received direct individual assistance from administrators neither at the district nor school level. Participants expressed positive perception regarding the technological training they received and the impact it had not only on their instruction, but their administrative skill as well.

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The importance of school readiness and social-emotional development for children who live in poverty is well established. Head Start programs have championed the development of the whole child across all learning domains. The implementation of the K-12 Common Core State Standards (CCSS) focuses instructional skills on reading language arts, and math. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore Head Start teachers' perceptions and experiences of the CCSS implementation. The study was guided by the constructivist learning framework of Piaget and Dewey. Research questions explored the understanding and effects of the K-12 CCSS implementation from a group of 10 Head Start teachers in high poverty schools in a large urban district in Washington State. Data were collected through observations, interviews, and shared documents. Open coding was employed to look for common topics for thematic analysis. Emergent themes were related to goal setting for students, teacher training, and student development. Key findings showed early childhood teachers have 3 different sets of standards, and teachers in Head Start could not access others besides their own. Findings resulted in a document for early childhood teachers combining the CCSS; Washington State early learning standards; and goals used by Head Start teachers, in literacy, math, and social-emotional skills for children ages 4 to 6. With access to all early childhood goals, teachers can set goals for their students that precede or exceed the guidelines used at their own grade level. Implications for social change are the opportunity for teachers to meet the needs of their students, no matter their skill level, and allow students to excel beyond their classroom setting, toward greater educational opportunities.