Oklahoma’s new English Language Arts and Math standards are finally complete, and have been approved by the State Board of Education. They now await the legislature’s approval.
The Department of Education was tasked with creating new math and English standards after the Oklahoma legislature repealed the Common Core curriculum in 2014.
The new standards were created by a group of Oklahoma educators from school districts across the state, and higher education. As required by law, the standards were reviewed by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education, and the State Regents for Higher Education. They were also sent to outside agencies for review, and were revised four times before approval.
State Superintendent, Joy Hofmeister, says these standards are stronger than the old ones, but are less prescriptive.
“And how you teach them is something that is left to the local districts, but the standards are set.”
Education officials say the English Language Arts standards focus on foundational skills, including phonics, basic grammar, writing research papers, and even cursive. The math standards weave their way through counting money, standard algorithms, patterns, ratios, and proportions.
Hofmeister said these are the first standards in Oklahoma to be published with vertical alignment. So teachers can look at what their students learned in the grade prior, and can look to the grade ahead, to help plan their lessons.
Lawmakers can approve them, disapprove, or approve them partially and make recommendations for modifications.
The standards are set to go in to effect this coming school year.
