After years of controversy surrounding the roll out of the Common Core Learning Standards, the New York State Department of Education (NYSED) has announced newly revised learning standards that provide a consistent set of expectations for all students, so educators can ensure every student is on track for college and career readiness.
The Next Generation Learning Standards (NGLS) are the result of more than two years of collaborative work to ensure New York state has the best learning standards for its students. More than 130 educators and parents worked together to make recommendations and revise the standards, resulting in a new set of revised English Language Arts and Mathematics Learning Standards.
NYSED formed two Standards Review Committees, one each for math and English language arts (ELA), by recruiting educators, parents, community-based organizations, business leaders and members of higher education. The committees were charged with drafting revised standards, which were posted online for public comment and presented to the Board of Regents by November.
The changes come following administration of an online survey (AIMHighNY) by NYSED between mid-October and late November 2015, which was completed by more than 15,000 respondents. Of those who responded, 71 percent were supportive of the standards while 29 percent were critical and focused mostly on the early grades for both ELA and math. Feedback included recommendations and comments about the standards, including specific changes to wording and revisions and/or movement of standards to another grade level.
Respondents included:
- teachers (48.9 percent)
- parents (32.8 percent)
- administrators (5.1 percent)
- and others (13.2 percent).
After the survey closed, advisory panels composed of teachers, administrators and college professors analyzed the data, identified trends and made initial recommendations for possible revisions and guidance.
For more information, visit www.nysed.gov/aimhighny.