State education leaders are redesigning the math and reading standards used in North Carolina’s public schools at a time when some state lawmakers want to have more say on what’s taught.
The State Board of Education gave permission on Thursday for the state Department of Public Instruction to develop new K-12 math standards after having given approval last May to develop new K-12 English language arts standards . DPI staff say they want to allow teachers to go more in-depth into topics by reducing the number of standards that are required for each grade level.
“That does not equal watering down,” Kristi Day, director of DPI’s Office of Teaching and Learning, told the state board this week. “So you’re going to see a lot of these changes and they are done very strategically with educators in the field based on feedback, not to water down or to lessen or to minimize, but rather to help teachers be able to go deeper. It’s quality over quantity.”…