Mass. Educational Standards Revised: See How They Affect Your Student

Revised educational standards in English language arts and literacy and mathematics were adopted Tuesday following a unanimous vote by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The new standards apply to all grades, beginning with the 2017-18 school year. The next-generation MCAS will be aligned to the new standards beginning spring 2018.

These new standards are unique to Massachusetts.

"While many people have expressed concerns about the role that the Common Core State Standards played in developing our 2010 standards, I want to make it clear that the 2017 standards are the Commonwealth's own," said Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester. "These revised standards were developed by Massachusetts educators and represent the input of hundreds of the Commonwealth's preK-12 and higher education faculty.

A change to the framework, last revised in 2010, has been in the works since 2015.

"Massachusetts' ability to continually adapt and update our educational standards is an important part of why our students and public schools lead the nation in many categories," Governor Charlie Baker said. "I am confident that the standards adopted today, with collaboration from educators, will continue to help successfully guide our students throughout their Massachusetts education."

Here are some of the highlighted changes:

"In English language arts and literacy, the changes include:

• Multiple cross-references to make the reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language standards more coherent;
• Instructional examples and samples of student writing from Massachusetts classrooms to clarify the meaning of the standards; and
• An explanation of how literacy instruction — particularly in the early elementary years — is intertwined with mathematics, science, social studies, the arts, and other subjects in a well-balanced curriculum.

In math, the changes include:

• Stronger learning progressions for pattern recognition in the early grades; the measurement of circles in the middle grades; and ratio, rate and proportions in the middle grades; and
• Added guidance for making decisions about course sequences that includes pathways to calculus and other advanced mathematics courses."

For more information on the revised standards, go here.