Curriculum Changes Underway in Lake Orion Community Schools

The Common Core Standards, which the State Board of Education unanimously adopted in June 2010, is a set of rigorous, college and career-ready curriculum standards for students that 46 states across the nation already adopted to bring consistency in education.

"The standards will for the first time provide states with clear and consistent educational goals and represent a logical next step in our state's efforts to embrace high learning," Mike Flanagan, state superintendent of public instruction in Michigan said.

According to the initiative, standards will require schools to develop or enhance their curriculum in mathematics, reading and writing, which Michigan districts are already doing. Beginning in 2014, the Michigan Merit Exam and MEAP will be replaced with standardized evaluations that focus on a student's reading comprehension, ability to form and write logical arguments and apply mathematical ways of thinking to real world issues.

"The Common Cores are more about critical thinking than our current standards, and it develops skills needed in the 21st century," said Heidi Kast, assitant superintendent of curriculum instruction and assessment for Lake Orion Community Schools.