Approaches to Instructional Change in the Era of Common Core

• In Event: How Standards, Curricula, and School Policies Influence Instruction and Student Outcomes

Abstract

We explore how New York City (NYC) school support organizations (SSOs) assist networks of schools in implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) through intentionally designed programs of support. Preliminary findings suggest that SSOs fall across a spectrum of approaches (adaptive, programmed, balanced) to instructional change. None of our SSOs met the criteria for an ideal epistemic community, and each faced challenges in reaching that ideal, including existing accountability structures, motivation, and capacity. This study expands research on implementation of instructional policies by comparing across organizational types, illuminating various organizational mechanisms and contextual factors affecting CCSS implementation. There have yet to be any published studies highlighting NYC’s evolving instructional supports since their reorganization in 2015.

Authors

• Megan Duff, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Angela Lyle, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Clare Buckley Flack, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Diane Massell, Consortium for Policy Research in Education

• Priscilla Wohlstetter, Teachers College, Columbia University