Common Core State Standards Initiative
by WPS Curriculum Director Sue Heine
September 30, 2010
Please HERE to view the Common Core State Standards Initiative web site.
Common core Standards
The National Governors Association and the National Council of Chief State School
Offices co-led an effort to develop and adopt a set of Common Core State Standards,
referred to as the Common Core in English, language arts and mathematics. The intent of the Common Core is to provide a consistent, clear understanding of student expectations across the country. The Common Core reading standards were released in June of 2010 and may be accessed at http://www.corestandards.org/ Nebraska was fortunate enough to have three staff members from the Curriculum, Instruction, and Innovation team involved in the development and review of the Common Core.
In July of 2010, a formal alignment was conducted between the newly revised Nebraska Standards and the Common Core. Alignment was strong. Nebraska schools aligning their local curriculum to the newly revised Nebraska Standards can be assured they are preparing students for the expectations of the Common Core.
The Common Core Assessment process is also underway. Assessment consortia involving large numbers of states have collaborated and developed grant applications to build common core assessments to measure the Common Core reading and mathematics standards.
Involvement in both the Common Core Standards and Assessment processes will be a decision to be made by the State Board of Education.
NDE Standards, Assessment and Accountability, Volume 6, September 2010
