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Can school networks handle Common Core demands?

Survey shows school leaders are not confident in capacity of networks

A majority of school districts feel that their networks are not equipped to handle the demand that online assessments–a key part of the Common Core State Standards–will require, according to a survey conducted by Enterasys, a wired and wireless infrastructure company.

Seventy-three percent of survey respondents said they are “not very confident” that their current networks will be able to support the capacity needs of Common Core State Standards assessment.

In addition, 67 percent said they are “not very confident” that their current networks can support the security needs that Common Core State Standards assessments will require.

Overall, 80 percent of responding districts said they are currently planning for Common Core State Standards implementation. Fifty-five percent said it is definite or likely that they will work with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, one of two assessment consortia working on next-generation online assessments that align with the Common Core State Standards. Thirty-four percent said their district has plans to work with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.

Forty-one percent said it is definite or likely that their district will develop its own Common Core State Standards assessments.

According to a recent PDK/Gallup poll on Americans’ opinion of public education [1], despite the widespread adoption of Common Core State Standards, 62 percent said they had never heard of the new standards. Of the 38 percent who said they had heard of them, many reported thinking [incorrectly] that the federal government is forcing states to adopt them and that the standards cover every academic subject.

Only 41 percent of those surveyed said they thought the Common Core State Standards would make American schools more competitive globally—a goal of the standards initiative.

(Next page: View an infographic on school networks and the Common Core)

A recent Center on Education Policy report [2], “Year 3 of Implementing the Common Core State Standards: States Prepare for the Common Core Assessments,” based on a survey of state deputy superintendents in 40 of the 46 states that have adopted the CCSS in math or English/language arts or both subjects, notes that many states face challenges in providing the technology and related support school networks will need to administer the online assessments.

Enterasys offers a free service to help evaluate a school networks’ readiness in terms of bandwidth and other considerations.

For more results, view the infographic [3] below: