Parents lack information, poll finds

California has overhauled how it teaches students, how it tests students and how it funds schools, yet a majority of taxpayers and parents say they have heard little about the changes, according to a poll released Wednesday.

While state students are in the middle of taking new standardized tests, called the Smarter Balanced Assessments, the survey of 1,706 residents found that more than half of public school parents, 55 percent, have heard nothing about them, and another 36 percent had heard just a little. That’s 91 percent combined.

Just over half of parents, 54 percent, had heard of the new Common Core standards — which focus more on critical thinking and project learning rather than rote memorization and repetitive practice — now being taught in California schools.

The new tests are aligned to these standards.

“Many public school parents are in the dark when it comes to Common Core,” said Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California, which conducted the survey. “Local schools need to do a better job of keeping parents informed as the state implements the new English and math standards.”

While the majority of parents — based on what they’ve heard or read — support Common Core, 80 percent of them said they were concerned that teachers weren’t prepared yet to teach Common Core.

The poll also found that Californians are even more uninformed when it comes to the state’s new funding system for schools, with 75 percent having heard nothing about it.

The Local Control Funding Formula gives districts a base amount of money for each student and then more money for low- income students and English learners, who are typically at the low end of the achievement gap and require more resources to address deficiencies.

Despite the lack of information, the majority of parents who were polled expressed optimism that Common Core standards and the new funding system would boost student performance.

The survey also asked residents about the performance of state officials.

While half of all adults approve of the governor’s performance, just 41 percent approve of his handling of education. The state Legislature fared more poorly, with a 42 percent overall approval rating and 35 percent support of its handling of education.

The survey, taken April 3- 13, included 1,706 adults, with a sampling error of plus or minus 3.7 percent.