Education Poll Finds Common Core Standards Remain A Mystery To Most Americans

U.S: Have you heard of the Common Core State Standards?

If not, you're in good company. Neither have most Americans, according to a PDK/Gallup poll released Wednesday.

Almost two-thirds of Americans don't know what the Common Core State Standards are -- a statistic that is sure to vex educators and policymakers as the standards begin to hit the classroom. Among those who have heard of the standards, 64 percent indicated wrongly that the federal government "insists" they be implemented.

For those wondering, the Common Core is a huge U.S. education initiative: a set of learning standards that are supposed to prepare students for a 21st-century economy by emphasizing critical thinking skills and informational texts in reading, and depth in important math concepts. The standards were voluntarily adopted by states, with some incentives from the federal government: The Education Department's Race to the Top competition gave states who took on higher standards more cash.

Forty-five states and the District of Columbia are revamping their curricula to line up with the Core. Recently, the politics of the Core even spilled into the national limelight, with the tea party making anti-Core efforts its next frontier.

- Huffingtonpost.com