Have you ever wondered what your child is taught at each grade level? A good place to start is with a review of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study on the Department of Public Instruction’s website. You can use this website to choose a subject and grade level to see which standards are currently used in North Carolina. Parents can also use this resource to verify instructional guidelines — to find out whether teachers are supposed to teach a particular concept, like handwriting, spelling, or grammar.
North Carolina’s standards are reflected on content assessed by End of Grade (EOG) and End of Course (EOC) tests given in every public school. The results of these exams determine a school’s classification in the state’s accountability program, the ABCs Accountability Model, and also indicate whether the school has made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), as defined by the federal education legislation, No Child Left Behind.
The significance of good standards cannot be overstated — they are the foundational component of effective teaching and accountability. Looking at how standards are implemented in other states provides a useful benchmark for comparison. I think Virginia has some of the best content standards anywhere. Their state standards, as well as test items for the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) Assessments are available on their Department of Education’s website. Virginia parents (unlike North Carolina parents) can access these test items to see both the content and the skills their child is expected to master on state exams.
In addition to perusing Department of Education websites for information on state standards, parents can find evaluations of state standards from several national organizations. The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation recently released The State of State Standards 2005. In this report, North Carolina earned a “B” for English standards, and a “C” for Math standards. Eleven states received an “F” in Math, while four received an “F” in English. Only 3 states — California, Indiana, and Massachusetts — earned an “A” in both Math and English. In addition, Education Week has published an evaluation of standards in Quality Counts 2005. This report gives North Carolina an overall grade of “B” for standards and accountability, placing us squarely in the middle of the pack; 24 states received higher scores.
Finally, if you are looking for comprehensive material on standards-based reform, be sure to look at a recent report by ETS, Unfinished Business: More Measurement Approaches in Standards-Based Reform, currently highlighted on the Alliance’s website. This report provides a perceptive and straightforward analysis of some important but often-neglected elements of standards-based reform.
Clearly, being familiar with state standards is critical if we want to improve the overall quality of education in North Carolina. In order to be effective, standards must be clear, concise, and measurable. Standards failing to meet these criteria will ultimately fall short of the goal of advancing strong student achievement.
At the Alliance, we want to keep you informed about relevant issues like standards, as well as the latest education news, research and reports. Be sure to visit onto our website, updated daily with current articles from across the state. As you well know, staying informed is a critical component of effecting policy change. Please join me in the fight to provide educational choice and empowerment to North Carolina’s students.