State BOE adopts new education standards

“I think that what we would have liked to have seen is additional discussion about standards and bring in some experts to talk about these, and talk more with parents, principals and teachers”, Speaker of the House, Tim Armstead said.

Thursday’s vote came after a 30-day comment period, in which more than 5,000 people, mostly teachers, provided input and more than 250,000 individual comments were made.

State education officials appear to have listened to concerns from the local school communities through a proposed overhaul of the Common Core, according Greater Amsterdam School District Superintendent Thomas Perillo.

One: Remember what’s not changing – the bulk of the Common Core standards themselves.

The board placed the revised math and English/language arts standards out for a 30-day public comment period last month.

“Content review teams”, comprised of a total of 48 educators, reviewed the comments during two two-day sessions, focusing on the top five most-disagreed-with standards in each grade level or course, and recommended changes.

During the Board of Education meeting Wednesday, Perillo provided an update on education policy developments at the state and federal levels, which will likely lead to the development of new education standards for students in future years.

West Virginia is replacing K-12 math and English educational standards based on Common Core with new learning requirements. It doesn’t remove all test scores from evaluations – just state, Common Core tests.

The Department of Education said the testing changes will significantly decrease the amount of formal testing.

“West Virginia University is committed to high quality public education throughout the state, and the Academic Spotlight offered us a unique opportunity to demonstrate that commitment”, said CEHS Dean Gypsy Denzine.

State school board President Mike Green – who met with legislators Monday, when the comment period ended – also said the most recent revisions would reflect only the comments made, and said he didn’t approach the education department with further changes based on what he and lawmakers discussed. The board also wants to make sure skills are introduced to students at the right age. “We can’t ask a third grader something you would expect in junior high school”, Perillo said.

“This process has been going on for close to a year”, he said Thursday.

Big changes are coming to classrooms around the state.