Revised New York State P-12 English Language Arts and Mathematics Learning Standards have been released by the New York State Education Department. The changes will be presented to the Board of Regents for discussion on May 9.
Commissioner MaryEllen Elia says the new learning standards are the culmination of a nearly two-year process that involved committees comprised of more than 130 educators and parents. Elia says their work resulted in substantive changes while maintaining academic rigor.
NYS Education Department highlights the changes to the ELA as:
- Add Practices to Foster Lifelong Readers and Writers to ensure students become lifelong learners who can effectively communicate. The BOCES Staff and Curriculum Development Network drafted these practices to help students exemplify and foster strong reading and writing habits from the early years through adulthood;
- Merge the Reading for Information and Reading for Literature Standards to reduce repetitive standards, streamline classroom instruction and curriculum development, and ensure a healthy balance of both types of reading across all grades. The standards also encourage the use of a variety of texts to balance literary and informational reading and to ensure students read both full-length texts and shorter pieces, as well as to encourage reading for pleasure. Specific reading selections remain local decisions to be chosen by local educators;
- Convene the New York State Early Learning Task Force to discuss concerns around the P-2 grades, including standards, program decisions, social emotional needs, and how the content areas/domains work together in the early grades. Grade-specific changes and additions were made to provide a strong emphasis on the whole child. The Task Force reviewed and provided feedback on the standards. The Task Force continues to meet and now is working on recommendations to develop resources and guidance to implement the new standards for educators and parents, including resources on professional development for teachers, P-12 school supports, child development, and instructional practice, including play as an instructional strategy;
- Revise Every Grade’s Reading Expectations for Text Complexity to clarify expectations over multiple grades. A text complexity section is also added to the introduction to underscore the importance of reading different types of texts with varying levels of difficulty;
- Revise the Writing Standards so they are more user-friendly for educators to use for curriculum and instruction. In addition to omitting some standards, there are grade-specific changes across the grades to clarify language and ensure writing expectations are clear;
- Streamline the Anchor Standards based upon comments from educators that the standards were too numerous and at times repetitive. Standards are merged, and included in the practices to foster lifelong readers and writers;
- Create a NY-Specific Introduction on How to Use the Standards to help inform local curriculum and instruction. While all curriculum decisions are locally made, a set of learning standards cannot be properly used without the necessary guidance. The introduction provides information on how to use the new Lifelong Practices for Readers and Writers, strategies for using the new standards in the classroom, and strategies and supports for applying the standards to students with disabilities and English language learners; and
- Ensure Literacy is Included in the Content Areas. For example, the committee recommended creating a new document for the Grades 6-12 Literacy in Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects Standards. The committees separated the literacy standards for these distinct content areas to better connect the standards directly with these content areas. In addition, guidance will be developed to show connections to literacy in other content areas
NYS Education Department highlights the changes to Mathematics as:
- Move Standards to Different Grade Levels to improve the focus of major content and skills for each grade-level and course; providing more time for students to develop deep levels of understanding of grade-level appropriate content. Based on public and expert comments, major grade movements occurred in statistics and probability at the middle level and in Algebra at the high school level;
- Provide for Students to Explore Standards to ensure standards are grade-level appropriate. Exploring a standard allows students to be introduced to and learn a concept without the expectation of mastering the concept at that grade level. Exploring the topic recognizes the importance of building a foundation toward mastering the concept in subsequent grades;
- Clarification of Standards so that educators, students and parents more clearly understand the expectation, without limiting instructional flexibility. For example, modifications were made to better define the progression of skills and the transition of some of the 18 shared standards between Algebra I and Algebra II;
- Add and Consolidate Standards to improve coherence, focus and reduce redundancy among grade levels. For example, one additional standard at the Kindergarten level helps solidify pattern recognition and creation from Pre-K to Grade 2. In addition, standards regarding time and money were added and changed to smooth the transition of building these skills at the PreK-Grade 4 level;
- Maintain the Rigor of the Standards by balancing the need for conceptual understanding, procedural skill and application. For example, clearly identify the fluency standards at the high school level; and
- Create a Glossary of Verbs associated with the mathematics standards. This glossary contains a list of verbs that appear throughout the revised standards recommendations. For example, the term “explore” is now utilized in some standards to alleviate grade-level appropriateness concerns.
Public comments on the revised standards will be accepted through June 2.