Explaining the Common Core to Californians: A Communications Toolkit

Resource sponsored by the CDE Foundation in support of the California CCSS Campaign. 

Explaining Common Core to Californians, a communications toolkit, is a collection of framing research, recommendations, and sample communications designed to help leading voices in California’s education sector increase public understanding of the kinds of instruction, assessment, and systemic supports needed to fulfill the potential of Common Core State Standards.
 
This toolkit, sponsored by the Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation, is intended to support communicators in framing the issues that surround Common Core implementation in California’s K-12 school districts. It includes sample communications, as well as annotations that unpack the framing strategy being illustrated, so that the recommendations can be extended to new communications. Users are encouraged to borrow this language verbatim if desired– no citation or special permissions are needed – and also to feel free to adapt the examples to the immediate needs of a local communications context.
 
Background: For fifteen years, FrameWorks Institute research has demonstrated that effective communications can help activate the public’s engagement with complex social issues – such as the education reforms needed to meet the demands of a complex and changing world. This toolkit is based on the findings of the Core Story of Education initiative, a multi-method research project which queried the thinking of over 28,000 Americans and included a substantial sample of Californians. For more on the extensive evidence base that informs the recommendations in this toolkit, visit this website.