“It’s going to be a huge mind shift for both students and teachers. With Common Core, we need to allow for exploration so students can learn more ‘why’ now.”
—Middle School Teacher
Designed to bring the voice of teachers to the forefront of the national dialogue on education, the Primary Sources series of reports from Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was first released in 2009 with findings from more than 40,000 teachers—the largest-ever survey of America’s teachers—sharing views on America’s schools.
The second edition, launched in 2011, took a more personal look at the teaching profession and its view from the classroom while keeping the pulse on current issues. All previous editions are available here.
The findings of the third wave of Primary Sources are based on a national online survey conducted by Harrison Group, a YouGov company, among 20,157 PreK–12th grade public school classroom teachers. The survey was conducted between July 1st and July 22nd, 2013. The data were weighted to ensure alignment with their actual proportions in the population according to grade(s) taught, teacher gender, years of teaching experience and geography. Eighty-five percent of teachers in the survey teach math, English language arts, science and/or social studies in Common Core states.
Scholastic Corporation is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books and a leader in educational technology and related services and children’s media. Scholastic creates quality books and ebooks, print and technology-based learning materials and programs, magazines, multi-media and other products that help children learn both at school and at home. The Company distributes its products and services worldwide through a variety of channels, including school-based book clubs and book fairs, retail stores, schools, libraries, on-air, and online.
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health with vaccines and other lifesaving tools and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to significantly improve education so that young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
Harrison Group, a YouGov company, is a leading market research and strategy consulting firm headquartered in Waterbury, Connecticut. The company’s cornerstone is providing sophisticated strategy, analytics, and survey and forecasting services. Harrison Group consists of a cohesive team of researchers, analysts, field experts, focus group facilitators, content-area experts, brand specialists and multivariate statisticians who deliver definitive results for many of the world’s most demanding clients.