The Idaho State Department of Education (SDE) will host several meetings across Idaho in June to gather people’s comments on potential new standards for mathematics and English language arts. State officials in charge of content areas like English and math will discuss the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI), a collaboration among states to find a clear and consistent framework to make sure students are prepared for college and a career. SDE could voluntarily adopt the new standards during the next year, which may lead to changes to standardized tests like the Idaho Standards Achievement Test.
“We must ensure we build a public education system that prepares all students to be successful in life after high school,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said in a news release. “Idaho students are ready for this challenge.” Luna may attend some of the meetings, but won’t travel the state for all nine meetings.
Here is the location and times of the meetings:
June 7
June 8
June 14
June 15
June 16
June 17
After the meetings, the State Board of Education could start the process of adopting the CCSI at its August meeting. The public would again be invited to comment in the fall before the board approves the plan. The Legislature would need to approve the board’s rules establishing the new education standards.
If that happens, the ISAT and school districts’ curriculum could change. “Any time you have new standards, you need to align the test to measure those standards,” Luna’s spokeswoman Melissa McGrath told IdahoReporter.com. “But that would be down the road. We would have an implementation process to ensure that if these are adopted, teachers and administrators get the proper training on how to teach the new standards.”
The final draft of the CCSI is available at at the education department’s website.
