Standards Video Script
State Superintendent June Atkinson
July 2014
Welcome to the start of school for 2014-15!
I am State Superintendent June Atkinson and I want to welcome you to the start of a
new school year.
No matter how many years I work in public education, the beginning of the school
year always is exciting to me. When I was a classroom teacher, I looked forward to
the new beginning each fall.
This year, I know that many of you have questions about what will be new and what
will stay the same in North Carolina public schools. During the General Assembly’s
short session lawmakers made decisions that affect public schools, so I can
understand your uncertainty, especially when it comes to the Standard Course of
Study and what will be taught in the 2014-15 school year.
One big question many of you may have as you begin the new year is:
What about the Common Core legislation?
If you teach mathematics or English language arts, you may wonder:
How does that legislation affect me?
Do I have to throw away all the work I have done to develop quality lessons to reach
these standards?
What standards do I use this fall?
What do I tell my students’ parents?
If you teach other subjects, you still may be concerned because the Common Core
standards, if taught correctly, also have an impact on other subjects.
Before I answer those questions, I want to review a short bit of history about North
Carolina’s Standard Course of Study and that important tradition.
In 1840, North Carolina opened its first public schools. In 1852, the Office of the
Superintendent of Public Schools was created, with Calvin Wiley as State
Superintendent. He wrote what was called the North Carolina Catechism, and it
identified what students should know and be able to do as a result of going to school
for four months out of the year. Other standards of the day came from the textbooks
published out-of-state, for the most part.
1
Wiley’s work was the forerunner of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.
That course of study has been revised many, many times over the years.
Just as today, the 19th century standards were statements of what students should
learn as a result of going to school. For example, first graders might be asked to
count to 100 by 1s and 10s. Fourth graders might have been asked to distinguish
fact from opinion…The standards back then – just like the standards today – were
silent on things such as student testing, instructional strategies or the curriculum
materials that teachers choose to use in their classrooms.
Fast forward to 2010: The State Board of Education adopted a revised Standard
Course of Study, including the Common Core standards for two subjects,
mathematics and English language arts. Along with the standards in science, social
studies, arts, healthful living, world languages, and career technical education, the
mathematics and English language arts standards were implemented in classrooms
beginning the fall of 2012 and have been in place since then.
But what about Senate Bill 812:
Senate Bill 812 was ratified on July 16, and was signed into law on July 22. The title
of this bill is:
An Act to exercise North Carolina’s Constitutional authority over all academic
standards; to replace Common Core; and to ensure that standards are robust and
appropriate and enable students to succeed academically and professionally.
This bill has prompted many questions because it is at the heart of what many of
you do – teach English language arts and mathematics.
While I support the current Standard Course of Study – which includes the Common
Core for these two subjects – I also support this review because it will help build
support for strong standards in these two key subjects.
Here’s what I want you to know about Senate Bill 812:
First, and most immediately important for you: this law does not change the
Standard Course of Study at all for the 2014-15 school year. Nothing changes in
math or English language arts this year. You will continue to use the same standards
that you used in 2013-14 and in 2012-13. So this will be our third year with these
standards.
Second, while you and your students are working through this school year, an
Academic Standards Review Commission will be convened to review all English
language arts and mathematics standards adopted by the State Board of Education
and to propose possible modifications.
2
The Commission will have 11 members.
Four of them will be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
Four will be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Two members will be from the State Board of Education: the chairman or his
designee and a member appointed by the chair and representing the State Board of
Education’s Task Force on Summative Assessment.
One member will be appointed by the Governor.
No one elected to statewide office or to the General Assembly can be appointed to
the Commission. The law also requires that parents, teachers, principals,
superintendents, business people and professors who are qualified to teach be
considered as possible members.
The Commission also has been asked to consider the impact on you, North
Carolina’s teachers, when making recommendations to the State Board of Education.
The Commission is directed to assemble content experts in evaluating the rigor of
academic standards and to involve interested stakeholders in this process.
Parallel to the work of the Commission, we will begin our standard process of
getting input from you about the standards revision, not just in mathematics and
English language arts, which some call the Common Core, but in all subjects.
What’s the timeline for all of this?
The commission is to meet no later than Sept. 1, 2014, and is to report its findings
and recommendations to the State Board of Education, the Joint Legislative
Oversight Committee and the 2015 General Assembly. The Commission is supposed
to last until Dec. 31, 2015, or upon the filing of its final report – whichever date
comes first.
North Carolina has a long-standing policy of reviewing the Standard Course of Study
by subject each five years or so to determine if changes are needed. This keeps our
Standards fresh and relevant for students and ensures that we update standards in
fields of rapid change and new research. The standards review under Senate Bill
812 is close to our typical 5-year cycle.
Given that the Commission work is scheduled to be completed by Dec. 31, 2015, I
would expect that the first year any revised standards could be put into place would
be the school year of 2016-17. Of course, the Commission could complete its work
more quickly and that timeline could move, but there are certain processes that take
some time to accomplish.
Gathering public input takes time, even using technology and virtual meeting tools.
It takes time to provide you and your colleagues with the proper professional
development to be ready to implement new standards. Developing or purchasing
3
the required student assessments that are aligned with any new standards requires
a careful process and time. That is important to be fair to students and to schools.
And, an explanation about testing and accountability….
You may have heard that the Common Core State Standards brought many new tests
to students and schools. In North Carolina, the Common Core did not affect the
number of tests that students take. We have had end-of-grade tests in place for
grades 3-8 since 1993. End-of-course tests go back even further in our history.
Regardless of our standards, we are required to measure student performance
through standardized tests in order to comply with federal and state laws.
All of our standards are silent about testing. Senate Bill 812 does address testing,
however, in Section 5, lines 14-23, which set out some requirements for student
assessments.
PAUSE
Thank you for all the work you have done since 2010 to prepare for today’s
Standard Course of Study. I know that you have participated in many hours of
professional development, lesson planning and other activities to make sure you
were ready to teach your students appropriately.
Again, that work will continue to pay off this year. Remember, the new law notes
that the current Standard Course of Study “remains in effect until official notice is
provided to all public school teachers, administrators and parents or guardians of
students enrolled in the public schools of any changes made in the Standard Course
of Study by the State Board of Education.”
I’m sure that with all of the publicity surrounding the standards, your students’
parents may have some questions. Parents, as well as other North Carolinians, trust
teachers more than any other profession. It is important that you share the facts
about North Carolina standards with your classes’ parents when you meet with
them.
As we move forward, I will continue to advocate, along with your superintendent
and other leaders, for decisions that are best for students, that are respectful of
teachers and that will help our young people be ready to meet the challenges that
will face their generation.
For more information about North Carolina standards, please go to www.ncpublic
schools.org and click on the Standard Course of Study link.
If you have questions or comments, please send them to the following email
address: nc standard course of study.dpi.nc.gov. We like to hear from you.
4
Best wishes for a successful 2014-15 school year.
5