NJ Parents
UNDERSTANDING STANDARDS
In 1995, in response to the need to establish what every child should have the opportunity to learn, the New Jersey Department of Education set in motion a massive standards development process with the involvement of educators, business, higher education, and parents/citizens. After two years of input and intensive development and revision, the original Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS) that define what every child should know and be able to do upon graduation from high school were adopted by the State Board of Education in May 1996.
Prior to the adoption of the standards, the approximately six hundred school districts in New Jersey created their own curricula based on local goals and decisions. There were wide variations in educational programs among the districts. Parents who moved to another community often felt that their children were at a disadvantage because the school programs were so different.
The original standards comprised the following seven academic areas: language arts literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, visual and performing arts, world languages, and comprehensive health and physical education. The original standards were revised and readopted in 2003. Two new areas were added in 2004 -- Technological Literacy and Career Education and Consumer, Family and Life Skills . The state’s standards also meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001..
The standards and the indicators related to them set the educational expectations in each subject area from grades K-12. School districts now have a common core of what they must teach. Local boards of education and local administrations should have designed new curricula or realigned previous curricula to incorporate all of the standards. Curriculum documents for every aspect of the standards should be available at your school district’s business office. Also built into the original standards document is the mandated five-year review process.
To assist districts with curriculum development and implementation, the Department of Education has numerous resources on its Web site to help with curriculum design and teaching strategies.
No child is to be exempt from learning the Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS). If programs need to be adjusted to accomplish this for some students, districts are expected to make those adjustments. Parents and guardians are the strongest advocates that children have. Your school district continually makes decisions about courses and programs that affect your children. The department encourages all parents to become part of the decision-making process in your district and to work closely with teachers to assure that your children are learning what the standards require.
More information is available at Academic and Professional Standards, and No Child Left Behind.
