Academic Standards
The
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), signed into law in 2001, requires that each state, including Minnesota, create its own set of academic standards indicating what a child should know and learn at each grade level in math, science and reading/language arts. In addition the requirements set forth in NCLB, Minnesota has chosen to also develop standards in social studies.
The district continually reviews what students are taught and how they are taught. Student performance, as shown by a variety of assessment results, guides the district in deciding what needs to be done so that all students can be successful. This commitment to continuous review of curriculum and instruction has led the district to also require local standards and assessments for departments which do not have state developed standards. District-wide department meetings are often used to analyze current curriculum and determine which benchmarks and assessments are most appropriate for student learning.
District 624 believes that academic standards, when embedded into the curriculum, help ensure that students will be critical thinkers, communicators, learners, and responsible citizens. Students must know how to access, interpret and apply this information to solve the new problems an increasingly complex world will present.
Aligning the new Minnesota Academic Standards
Math and Language Arts - In the spring of 2003, the legislature approved new academic standards for math and language arts, as well as optional arts standards. Over the course of the 2003-04 school year, District 624 incorporated these new academic standards into the curriculum through regular curriculum development processes. Teacher input and already constructed curriculum maps aided the transition of aligning the new standards to the current curriculum. Although schools are required to have language arts and math standards fully implemented by the fall of 2004, the class of 2008 (current 9 th grade students) will be the first to graduate under the new standards requirements.
Science and Social Studies - Science and social studies standards were approved by the legislature in the spring of 2004. The 2004-05 school year has been identified as the transition year to implement these new standards into districts' curricula. District 624 is following the same process to align science and social studies standards as it did previously with math and language arts. It is expected that the new Minnesota Academic Standards for science and social studies will be fully implemented by the fall of 2005.
Minnesota Academic Standards
In 2003, the state of Minnesota approved a new set of Academic Standards. Math, language arts, and the arts already have revised standards and are ready for implementation. Science and social studies standards are being developed now.
Below are copies of the standards that have been approved by the Minnesota Department of Education and the Legislature. (All are in PDF format and require Adobe Reader)
K-12 Arts Standards (PDF)
K-12 Language Arts Standards (PDF)
K-12 Mathematics Standards (PDF)
K-12 Social Studies Standards (PDF)
K-12 Science Standards (PDF)
