In Premise, Not in Practice: Perspectives of Higher Education Personnel on the Common Core State Standards

College and career readiness is a pressing concern for the American educational system. Although the public often considers the Common Core to be solely a K-l 2 initiative, it was designed with the higher education sector in mind, too. As a result, proponents had high hopes that the Common Core would create buy-in all the way from K-16. The paper begins by outlining the history of the Common Core State Standards (hereafter called the Common Core or CCSS), detailing how their emergence influenced K-12 and postsecondary education. Then, to ascertain the role higher education played in this reform effort, the report explores the findings of a survey of 50 college administrators and faculty in Common Core states. It concludes by discussing the implications of the survey findings.