State department of education soliciting public input on standards

With the conversation about revised academic standards in state schools, the Alabama State Department of Education is asking for members of the public to give them feedback on each one.

It’s part of the Alabama College-and Career-Ready Standards being set in place and spearheaded by State Supt. Dr. Tommy Bice.

The DOE opened a website Oct. 6 for a review of standards for English/language arts and mathematics and asked those interested to review each standard and give input. The review gives those who are genuinely interested in improving education a chance to weigh in on the standards.

The Standards Review Homepage said the public input has two goals: engage the general public, parents, educators, business and industry and civic leaders in a review of the standards, and increase an awareness and understanding of the standards.

At the end of the public review, the feedback will go to the state Mathematics and English/Language Arts Course of Study (COS) teams.

The website stressed that the only comments which will be considered by the COS teams will be those of academic substance tied to a specific standards.

The public review of standards for each grade will be one-week long. The kindergarten review already has concluded, but the schedule of beginning dates for the rest of the grades are as follows:

1^st Grade: Oct. 13

2^nd Grade: Oct. 20

3^rd Grade: Oct. 27

4^th Grade: Nov. 3

5^th Grade: Nov. 10

6^th Grade: Nov. 17

7^th Grade: Nov. 24

8^th Grade: Dec. 1

9^th-10^th Grades: Dec. 8

11^th-12^th Grades: Dec. 15

To access the standards, visit the DOE website at www.alsde.edu. Under the “What’s Happening Now” column, click on the Standards Review Homepage.