PHOENIX – The Arizona State Board of Education and Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas invites all Arizonans to share their feedback on draft versions of updated Arizona English Language Arts and Mathematics Standards.
“I am excited that Arizona is finally moving away from the federally imposed Common Core standards,” said Superintendent Douglas. “The drafting of higher and more rigorous standards that are developmentally appropriate at every grade level brings us one step closer to giving Arizona students the excellent education they deserve. While I have not yet completed my final review of the drafts, I am pleased with the direction we are taking based on the briefings I have had so far.”
“Last March, Governor Ducey charged the Board with a rigorous review of the standards and securing input from individuals throughout the state to develop Arizona academic standards,” State Board of Education President Reginald M. Ballantyne III stated. “I applaud the essential, thoughtful and tireless efforts of the dedicated educators from across the state in reviewing the comments and crafting this draft. The release of the 2016 draft English Language Arts and Mathematics standards certainly responds to the governor’s call and I encourage the citizens of Arizona to offer their input. This is a terrific step forward.”
The updated draft standards are now available for review on the Arizona State Board of Education website at https://k12standards.az.gov/. The comment period will remain open for 45 days and will close on October 3, 2016. To solicit additional feedback, the State Board has also scheduled 17 public hearings to take place across 13 counties from Sept. 12-21, 2016. A list of hearing dates, times and locations is available at https://k12standards.az.gov/public-meetings-2016-arizona-draft-standards.
“Arizona parents, teachers and citizens now have an opportunity to share their thoughts and help improve these new drafts,” Superintendent Douglas continued. “Our goal is to deliver exceptional standards that truly belong to Arizonans, and the feedback we gather through this process is critical to achieving that objective.”
The State Board and the Superintendent also expressed their appreciation for the English Language Arts and Mathematics Working Groups, which were made up of over 200 Arizona educators from 10 counties. These educators reviewed over 2,000 public comments on the 2010 English Language Arts and Math standards and used that input along with their own grade-level expertise to review each standard. Throughout the review process, Arizona educators donated over 6,000 hours of their time.
