The State Board of Education on Oct. 1 adopted new K-12 math standards that drop NC Math 3 and NC Math 4, closing a rewrite that began more than two years ago and went through three public drafts. The standards passed without discussion as part of a block vote on committee items at the end of the meeting.
The standards cover every public school student in the state and replace standards adopted in 2016 and 2017. The current standards stay in effect through the 2027-28 school year, and the new ones take effect in fall 2028, when state tests will be aligned to them.
Students will still need four math credits to graduate from high school — with Math 1 and Math 2 remaining a requirement — but they will have a broader menu of course choices beyond that. The new offerings include Mathematical and Statistical Modeling, Applied Statistics and Data Science, and Applied Logic and Reasoning. The career and technical education pathway to a fourth credit also stays in place.
The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) said the revision drew on more than two years of feedback from educators, families, students, colleges, and employers. More than 70 educators wrote the standards, including teachers from every grade level and math faculty from the UNC System and the NC Community College System, according to DPI.
Charles Aiken, the DPI section chief who oversees math education, told the board in September that the changes respond to what businesses say they need from graduates.
“Employers are telling us increasingly that calculus is less critical than statistics and data analytics,” Aiken said.
Aiken has also said the current single-track sequence, which dates to the 19th century, has made math feel out of reach for many students. “It allows this idea that math is just simply too hard. Therefore, it’s okay if you don’t do well,” he told the board.
Robert Luebke, director of the Center for Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation, told Carolina Journal last month that the rewrite was overdue.
“I’m glad to see math standards are finally getting an overhaul,” Luebke said. “It seems no one is happy. Our standards are weak.”
Rep. Hugh Blackwell, R-Burke, questioned in February whether the standards needed reworking and asked DPI which deficiencies the revision would correct. Rep. David Willis, R-Union, told DPI officials in March that the state lost high-quality materials when it moved away from textbooks around 2013.
“I think we need to take a very hard look at returning to textbooks in K-5,” Willis said.
Senate Bill 1044, sponsored by Sen. Kevin Corbin, R-Macon, would have required three math screenings a year for every K-8 student and an intervention plan for each student below grade level, modeled on Read to Achieve. The Senate Education Committee approved the bill May 13. It has not moved since.
Aiken told the board in September that steering students onto lower tracks was his main worry in designing the pathways. He said the choice of courses would rest with students and parents rather than schools, and that counselors would be brought in earlier to walk families through the options.
DPI said it will use the rest of this school year and all of 2027-28 to train teachers and prepare districts for the new courses.