Phoenix AZ (April 27, 2015) – The State Board of Education today established the Arizona Standards Development Committee to oversee the development of Arizona Mathematics Standards and English Language Arts Standards.
Last month, Governor Doug Ducey called upon the Board to make any necessary changes to the standards to ensure they are vetted, approved and controlled by Arizona, and that the standards are the best for Arizona’s students. The current College and Career Ready Standards will be the starting point for the process and comments will be sought to inform revisions to ensure that the newly adopted Arizona standards are excellent and rigorous.
“Our Board will operate with integrity and transparency while being inclusive and accountable to the people of Arizona,” said Greg Miller, Board President. “Our goal is to develop and activate the best academic standards review and development process for Arizona’s children by working with parents, leaders, the Superintendent and the Governor.”
The seventeen member Arizona Standards Development Committee will include representation from the Board, business community, deans of colleges, parents, classroom teachers, a school administrator and a school district governing board member. The Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas is also a member of the Committee. Members of the Committee will be an equal mix of those who have and have not participated in the standards development process in the past. Applications for the Committee are due to the State Board by May 6, 2015 and appointments shall be made by May 15, 2015. The application can be found at www.azed.gov/state-board-education/state-board-advisory-committees.
According to the Board policy adopted today, the Committee is required to complete its work so that the Board may adopt revised standards before the close of the 2015-2016 school year. The Committee will oversee the process for the solicitation of public comments on the standards, which will include public hearings across the state.
Additionally, the Committee will oversee subcommittees responsible for the technical drafting of the standards. The subcommittees will be comprised of English Language Arts and Mathematics content experts selected from K-12 school districts and charter schools, higher-education faculty, teacher professional organizations and foundations providing content expertise and professional development.
The Arizona State Board of Education adopts academic standards to address what K-12 students are expected to learn (i.e., multiplication, grammar, understand simple words and expressions in a foreign language). Arizona retains authority to approve and modify academic standards, as there is no federal law requiring the adoption of specific standards. Local governing boards (both district and charter) retain exclusive authority to adopt curriculum (i.e., textbooks, math problems, reading material), which serve as the tool for how students are taught the standards.
The State Board of Education is created by the Arizona Constitution and charged with the responsibility of regulating the conduct of the public school system. The Board is composed of eleven members: the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the president of a state university or state college, four lay members, a president or chancellor of a community college district, a person who is an owner or administrator of a charter school, a superintendent of a high school district, a classroom teacher and a county school superintendent. Other than the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Board members are appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate, and serve four year terms. More information about the Board can be found at www.azed.gov/state-board-education/.
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