How to Develop State or Local Standards in an Inclusive Way

Sandra Stotsky, July 2014

1. Vote or !"air o Steerin# !o$$ittee: The Steering Committee in charge of the project (i.e., in charge of the two
standards development committees) votes for its own Chair or Co-Chairs (unless spelled out in law). This might e the
Chair of the State or !ocal "oard of #ducation (so no vote is necessar$) or a separate committee set up $ the State or
!ocal "oard of #ducation or the State !egislature.
%. %ppoint$ent o Docu$ent &uardians' The Steering Committee must appoint two people to e in charge of the
standards documents while the$ are developed and finali&ed: one who understands and can use mathematical s$mols to
e in charge of the mathematics standards document (on a computer), and the other to e in charge of the #nglish
standards document (on a computer). These people's time ma$ e donated $ the state department of education, the state
superintendents organi&ation, the local school district (for a district-ased set of standards), or the state's career-
technolog$ organi&ation. These two people report onl$ to the chair(s) of the Steering Committee( no one else can
authori&e wording for the standards or material for the documents. )emership on this Steering Committee ma$ have
een spelled out in the state's law re*uiring alternative standards to Common Core's. +hatever the composition of the
Steering Committee, it proceeds as follows.
() Selection o !"air or eac" Standards Develop$ent !o$$ittee' The Steering Committee selects the chair(s) for a
)athematics Standards ,evelopment Committee and the chair(s) for an #nglish Standards ,evelopment Committee.
-. *ualiications and +eco$$endations or !"airs: The chair of each Standards ,evelopment Committee must come
from the undergraduate teaching facult$ in the arts and sciences (not in an education school) at a state's own higher
education institutions. .or mathematics, the chair must e a facult$ memer in the science, mathematics, or engineering
department( for #nglish, the chair must e a facult$ memer in the #nglish literature/language department (not in an
education school). The presidents of the state's four-$ear or more higher education institutions (private or pulic) must
recommend people willing to serve as chair. The Steering Committee selects $ majorit$ vote the chair(s) of each of the
two Standards ,evelopment Committees.
0. Structure o Standards Develop$ent !o$$ittees and ,u$-er o .e$-ers: #ach Standards ,evelopment
Committee is ro1en down into three educational levels (elementar$, or grades pre2-0( middle school, or grades 3-4( and
high school, or grades 5-1%. There should e no more than five memers on each su-committee (i.e., 10 in all),
supplemented $ one school lirarian for the #nglish committee, selected $ the state's lirar$ association, and one
engineer for the mathematics committee, selected $ one of the state's engineering organi&ations.
3. +e/uire$ents or .e$-ers"ip on Su-0!o$$ittees: 6 nomination can e sent $ ever$ district superintendent in
the state to the state superintendents organi&ation (or $ ever$ principal of each school in a local district to the local
school oard). 6 one-page nomination form should e used for each nomination for each of the three su-committees for
the two standards development committees (i.e., 3 in all). 6ll that is re*uired on the nomination form is the teacher's
name, current teaching assignment (grade and suject), at least ten $ears of documented teaching e7perience, and the
nominee's undergraduate and graduate courses in #nglish, composition, rhetoric, or mathematics, science, or engineering,
with enough hours or credits amounting to at least a minor in #nglish or mathematics. 8riorit$ can e given to #nglish or
mathematics majors.
9. Selection o 1eac"er ,o$inations: The state superintendents organi&ation selects 10 teachers for each of the three
su-committees from whatever numer of nominations local superintendents sumit. There will e -0 teachers in all for
the Steering Committee and Standards ,evelopment Committee chair(s) to choose from for each of the two Standards
,evelopment Committees.
4. Selection o !o$$ittee .e$-ers: Committee chairs and the Steering Committee together select the five memers
for the elementar$ and middle school su-committees. .or the high school #nglish su-committee, there should e an
#nglish teacher at each of the four grades, and for the high school mathematics su-committee, there should e a current
mathematics teacher for algera :, geometr$, algera ::, and pre-calculus or trigonometr$. The fifth person for the high
school su-committee should e a memer of the teaching facult$ in that suject area in higher education. The committee
chair(s) select(s) that facult$ memer.
5. 2oundational Docu$ent or 3e#innin# +evision 4rocess: #ach Standards ,evelopment Committee egins with a
complete set of pre2-1% standards in its suject area. These standards are to come from the most highl$ rated pre-%;;5
state standards in the countr$. :n mathematics, that means California, :ndiana %;;3, )assachusetts %;;;, or )innesota.
:n #nglish, that means California, :ndiana %;;3, )assachusetts %;;1 or %;1< (a compressed, revised version of %;;1), or
the version used in 6laama in %;;0. #ach committee chooses its foundational document at its first full meeting.
10) 2eed-ack ro$ 1eac"ers' #ach of the three Standards ,evelopment Su-Committees otains comments on
appropriateness and wording, standard $ standard, grade $ grade, from relevant teachers among the <; not selected $
the superintendents organi&ation for the three Standards ,evelopment Su-Committees. These comments are recorded $
the document guardian as suggestions for each standard in the foundational document=for later review $ the college and
high school teachers in that suject.
11. 4u-lic !o$$ent' >nce the entire foundational document has een reviewed $ the feedac1-giving groups of
teachers, the high school teachers and higher education facult$ memer and chair of each Standards ,evelopment
Committee revise the document ased on teacher feedac1 for a pulic comment draft to e sent out for a two-to-three-
wee1 period.
1%) %vaila-ility o all 4u-lic !o$$ent: The pulic comment drafts are to circulate to all interested organi&ations,
individuals, and teachers in the state or district, with a response form availale for electronic return. 6ll returned
comments are to e compiled $ the document guardians and made pulicl$ availale. ,ocument guardians also review
the comments for useful suggestions, rewording of standards, additions, deletions, etc. and sumit these to the Standards
,evelopment Committee chairs.
1<. 2inal revision o standards docu$ents: The chairs of the Standards ,evelopment Committees and all committee
memers meet to discuss and decide what, if an$thing, to incorporate or change in the standards. These are open and
taped meetings=open to parents, other teachers, and the pulic at large.
1-. .ultiple Sets o Secondary Standards and 4at"ways: The Steering Committee and oth Standards ,evelopment
Committees decide at a pulic meeting whether to provide multiple sets of secondar$ standards for accelerated pathwa$s
(grades 3-1%) for math/science, performing arts, humanities/foreign languages, and vocational technical careers. #ach
pathwa$ ma$ have separate e7it tests, different designated performance levels, and ac1nowledgment on high school
diploma.
15) 4u-lic !o$$ent on inal version: The two sets of standards go out for pulic comment to the state Chamer of
Commerce, state usiness and industr$, state engineering organi&ations, other professional organi&ations such as earl$
childhood, special education, #nglish language learners, and school counselors, and higher education undergraduate
teaching facult$ in science, mathematics, and engineering, and in #nglish literature/language. 6ll returned comments
must contain signatures of reviewers and e availale on an accessile wesite.
13. 67ternal +eview: :ndividual scholars or researchers are to e as1ed to provide independent review of the final
standards in mathematics and #nglish. These reviewers should e from another state or countr$ and e recogni&ed as
academic authorities in their disciplines (i.e., the$ are the recipients of awards and/or authors of 1nown pulications).
?ecommendations for scholars or researchers are to come from higher education facult$ in the arts and sciences, not
schools of education. 67ternal reviews are to -e presented to t"e state le#islature at a pu-lic "earin#) I t"e state
le#islature wants s$all c"an#es, t"ey can -e $ade -eore a vote -y t"e state le#islature to accept t"e standards)
19. State legislature votes to disallow all further credit for Common Core-ased professional development (possil$ a
salar$ deduction for participation in Common Core-ased professional development).
18) 1est Develop$ent !o$$ittees set up, and in si$ilar ways, ater vote -y le#islature on inal version o
standards)