Both North and South Carolina are getting ready to rewrite Common Core standards. South Carolina has already started the process. Teams of educators have until March to come up with new ones.
The South Carolina State Board of Education has given teams of teachers and curriculum experts a tight deadline to come up with new math and writing standards. Their rough drafts are due in October and the final product next March.
State Superintendent of Schools Mick Zais addressed the math team at its first meeting last month. He told them to start with South Carolina standards from 2006 and look at standards from other states not using the Common Core.
"We want to steal the best ideas from all of them because they’re not copyrighted and take credit for having great math standards for South Carolina students, developed by the best math teachers and curriculum experts in South Carolina," said Zais.
But the teams will also receive a copy of Common Core standards. Governors and state superintendents helped design them to raise expectations of students and gives states a way to broadly compare how children are doing. Forty-five states adopted them.
Lawmakers in a few states like North and South Carolina have decided to repeal the Common Core because they argue these standards were forced on states.
North Carolina also has a lot of work to do to rewrite standards in time for the 2015-2016 school year. A politically-appointed commission will meet for the first time next month to start coming up with recommendations.
