State superintendent Glenda Ritz says she thinks Indiana education officials can wrap up their review of the Common Core in time to have academic standards in place for next school year.
“Keep in mind we’re working from the standards we are currently teaching,” Ritz says. “So there will be revisions to those standards. The plan is for— the timeline is hopefully the State Board of Education will have final approval in April, and we’ll get out any revisions to the staff here in the spring.”
But some State Board members aren’t sure if that’s enough time to do their job properly.
Right now most Indiana teachers are teaching the nationally-crafted Common Core standards the state adopted back in 2010. They’re also teaching what Ritz calls “Indiana academic indicators” — expectations for what students need to know and learn at each grade level to pass the statewide ISTEP+ test.
But legislation passed this spring has paused further rollout of the new standards — and delayed the adoption of a new test — until the State Board of Education has a chance to reaffirm support for the Common Core or adopt other college- and career-ready standards.
Board members have until July 1, 2014, to make a decision, but politically, they may not be able to keep the Common Core in Indiana.
