Dive Brief:
- Oklahoma has released a draft of the new math and English standards that will replace the scrapped Common Core State Standards in the state.
- The first public airing of the new standards happened at a Tuesday town hall event, but the state is also soliciting feedback on the standards using online surveys.
- The new standards are expected to be finalized by December and will be implemented beginning in 2016.
Dive Insight:
After the state legislature voted to drop the Common Core due to opposition from local conservative groups, much of the controversy centered on the state’s failed plan to revert to its previous set of standards. Since then, the debate has focused on the development of the new standards and the question of how, exactly, they will differ from the Common Core.
In Indiana, one of two other states to repeal the standards, new state standards differed in largely superficial ways, overlapping as much as 70%, according to one measure. Opponents called on the state to rewrite the standards and remove more of the similarities, but Gov. Mike Pence declined to resurrect the issue.
Similar fears linger around Oklahoma's new standards. The state's superintendent has pledged to make sure “Common Core never comes back to Oklahoma,” but the Hechinger Report found that many teachers are still using the standards and their principles in their instruction, if not their name. It remains to be seen whether the new standards will be a suitable replacement and, crucially, if teachers will receive the needed training to ensure they can implement them well.
