says Mehta. "It will only work if there is really significant time, money, and political will put into supporting teachers' ability to help students meet the standards," he says. "In the absence of that, we'll have No Child Left Behind redux. Common Core standards are significantly more demanding, so if we raise standards and don't increase support and capacity building, the schools won't meet the standards, which over time will lead to either lowering of standards or increased resistance on the part of teachers and schools."
Buttimer shares this view. "As a former teacher, I don't necessarily have an issue with the contents of the standards themselves, at least for middle and high school," he says. However, "We're setting high standards without helping teachers and students get to those standards" through professional development and other capacity-building support. By tying teacher performance to results without supporting them to make the change, "We've skipped right to the evaluate-and-punish stage."
Indeed, Schwartz notes that California, which has made a "massive investment in professional development but also suspended state testing," is a state that "seems most on track for successful implementation of the Core."