Group items tagged

General background The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a significant and historic opportunity for states to collectively develop and adopt a core set of academic standards in mathematics and English Language Arts, which includes literacy in history/social studies, science and technical subjects. The Common Core State Standards, released June 2, 2010, build directly on recent efforts of leading organizations and states that have focused on developing college- and career-ready standards and ensuring these standards are evidence- and research-based and internationally benchmarked to top-performing countries. These core standards represent critical learning targets for literacy and numeracy. Each state must decide whether or not to adopt these standards as its own. In the 2010-2011 school year, Maine began implementing the Common Core State Standards for English and mathematics by conducting an alignment study and gap analysis, providing professional development and support for instruction, and by working with other adopting states to develop an aligned assessment system.