INDIANAPOLIS— Indiana education officials are still on track to place a finalized set of new academic standards before the Indiana State Board of Education in April.
The Indiana Department of Education is heading up a lengthy, multi-panel review process to create Indiana specific academic standards to serve as a guide to what is taught in Hoosier classrooms.
The new academic standards follow the General Assembly “pausing” the roll out of Common Core education standards last year. The state originally adopted the national Common Core State Standards, which are supported by President Barack Obama, in 2010.
Indiana Department of Education staff gave an update on the process of compiling the new academic standards at the State Board of Education meeting Thursday.
Board member Brad Oliver defended the process being used to review Indiana’s past academic standards and craft new ones as “legitimate.” Oliver said it’s unfair to say the state is just taking Common Core and rebranding it.
Oliver said he’s tried to share with his constituents that when they look at the new academic standards some will look like past standards and some will look different.
“I really do appreciate what is taking place now in terms of evaluation and reconciliation,” Oliver said.
Three public hearings on the standards will be held across the state later this month, including one in Sellersburg on Feb. 24.
Legislation moving through the General Assembly requires the state to void Common Core and create Indiana academic standards that prepare students for college and careers. Republican legislative leaders have said they are closely watching the process and wanted the option to mandate the drop of the controversial standards if needed.
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz said the rigor of the state’s review is unprecedented. Ritz said career experts are among those reviewing the standards, so the entire continuum is being explored.
Ritz said after the standards are passed, the department will roll out an implementation plan and that teachers will know by May the standards for the next school year. When Indiana originally adopted Common Core, state education officials did an extensive comparison of state academic standards to the national set and found “huge overlap,” Ritz said.
“I feel very confident that the teachers are going to be able to adjust to the teaching of the new standards, and we’re going to be right where we need to be,” Ritz said.