In California, a recent survey revealed that a majority of parents know little to nothing about this year's new Common Core tests being administered to their children.

A study from the Public Policy Institute of California found that "55 percent of public school parents surveyed say they have not heard at all about the new tests that public schools are giving students grade 3 to 8 and grade 11 starting this spring," according to a recent segment on the local public radio station KPCC.

Meanwhile, 36 percent of parents admitted to knowing a little about the tests and only eight percent claimed to know a lot about the tests.

Though the survey sample is relatively small for the large state of California (according to reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez's article, "the institute surveyed 1,706 California adult residents by phone from April 3 to 13 in English and Spanish) it is an indicator that many parents are being left in the dark.

Opponents of the Common Core argue that part of the problem with mandated tests is that they are "high-stakes," yet parents are told little about them. This especially seems to be the case in California, where the state is administering these Common Core tests for the first time.

"The latest tests, known as the Smarter Balanced assessments, are given to students online. They measure students' knowledge of English and math based on the Common Core, a new set of learning standards aimed at teaching critical-thinking, problem-solving and collaboration," the article said.

Although many of California's educators fear that the new assessments will result in lower scores for myriad reasons, the survey concluded that despite knowing little about the tests, most parents don't predict lower scores.

"42 percent of the surveyed parents predict students will score about the same as previous tests and 29 percent expect higher scores. Twenty-three percent predict scores will be lower."

Read the full article here and comment below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

04/23/2015