Update on the Academic Standards Approval Process

The 2007 versions of the South Carolina academic content standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics will be presented to the State Board of Education (SBE) for second reading and to the full Education Oversight Committee (EOC) in April 2007 rather than February 2007 as anticipated. Schedules for professional development, development of support documents, and classroom implementation will not be delayed.

The change from the anticipated approval schedule was necessary in order for the documents to be comprehensively edited. We believe that time spent for editing will result in a document that will be more usable. The editing demands are greater than in the past because two sets of academic standards were revised at the same time. In addition, timing was confounded by the winter holidays. The ELA standards were approved for first reading by the SBE on December 13, 2006 and the mathematics standards were approved on January 9, 2007. Both sets of standards received approval from the EOC Academic Standards and Assessments (ASA) subcommittee on January 22, 2007.

The approved documents will be posted to the State Department Web site as soon as possible after they are approved by both bodies, as outlined in the Procedures for the Cyclical Review of Current South Carolina K–12 Academic Standards and for the Development of New Academic Standards. It is premature to begin revising district curriculumdocuments until the standards documents are approved by both the EOC and the SBE.

Professional development for teachers and administrators regarding the understanding and implementation of the 2007 standards will be held beginning in late summer. More detailed information regarding these opportunities will follow. Standards for both areas will be available for teachers to use beginning with the 2007–08 school year with 2007–08 being a “bridge” year. PACT, HSAP, and End-of-Course tests will be based on indicators that are common to the currently used standards and the 2007 standards. Statewide assessments will be based solely on the 2007 standards beginning with the 2008–09 school year.
The review and writing teams and the field review respondents in both areas are to be commended for their hard work, dedication, and feedback which resulted in the creation of documents that support the continuation of high student expectations for our state.

We appreciate your understanding of this adjustment in the original timeline as we continue to craft the best possible standards documents for the teachers and students in South Carolina. Should you have questions regarding the ELA standards, please contact Cathy Jones at 803-734-0790 or cjones@ed.sc.gov. If you have questions regarding the mathematics standards, please contact Mary Ruzga at 803-734-5838 or mruzga@ed.sc.gov.