The Common Core State Standards: School Reform at Three Suburban Middle Schools

Abstract

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) present public education with perhaps the largest shift in educational paradigm since No Child Left Behind in 2001. This study investigated the importance of principal leadership and how information regarding the CCSS reform flowed to the principal and from the principal to the teachers. Furthermore, this study assessed the assertion that principals are key to reform interpretation and implementation. The research reported here is a multicase study developed through qualitative methods over a period of 7 months. Primary data collection was accomplished through a series of three interviews with three public suburban middle school principals in a Midwestern state. The first stage of this study examined each principal’s background and educational experience. It aimed to create a profile of the principal and to identify any relationship between principal experience and perception of the CCSS reform. The second stage investigated how these three principals received information and built professional knowledge about the CCSS. The last stage sought to identify how these principals organized and disseminated CCSS information for teachers within their buildings and how they prepared their staff for adaptive change. This study also included a review of the documents that these principals used to garner information about the CCSS and to disseminate information to staff members. Additionally, this study yields secondary data for the analysis and triangulation with primary data. Transcriptions of interview data and field notes, along with interpretive comments of the researcher, were checked for validity with each participant. This study was completed as part of the dissertation requirements for Michigan State University. It is important to state that the study in its entirety was modified to a journal format to be concise and direct.