© 2024 St. Louis Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

DESE Moving To Fully Implement 'Common Core State Standards'

(via Flickr/cayoup)

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is moving forward with fully implementing new standards in Missouri’s K-12 schools for teaching math, English and language arts.

Spokeswoman Sarah Potter says the new standards are based on those crafted by theCommon Core State Standards initiative.

“The standards say what students should know and be able to do by the end of each grade level to be on track for success in college and career,” Potter said.

More than 360 public schools in Missouri are taking part in a pilot program to test out a new assessment system based on Common Core for students in grades 3 through 11.  Potter says Missouri adopted the new standards back in 2010.

“We’ve been slowly implementing (them)," Potter said.  "The school districts have been changing over curriculum, rewriting curriculum, and adapting to these new standards, and we’re gonna start testing for them officially in the 2014-2015 school year.”

The assessment system is being developed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.

Meanwhile, there’s a turf war between DESE and the legislature over who has the authority to implement curriculum standards.  Legislation in the Missouri Housewould block the use of Common Core State Standards outright, and there's a Missouri Senate billthat would require a public hearing in each of the state’s Congressional districts before those standards could be fully implemented.

Follow Marshall Griffin on Twitter:  @MarshallGReport

Marshal was a political reporter for St. Louis Public Radio until 2018.