The Arizona State Board of Education is now allowing the public to share their feedback on draft versions of updated Arizona English Language Arts and Mathematics Standards. The standards development process has been shrouded in secrecy, and controversy.
The subcommittee members were not given access to the proposed changes until they were unveiled to the public on Friday.
Although Superintendent Douglas admitted in a statment issued on Friday that she had not yet completed her final review of the drafts, she was “pleased with the direction we are taking based on the briefings I have had so far.”
The updated draft standards are now available for review on the Arizona State Board of Education website at https://k12standards.az.gov/. The comment period will remain open for 45 days and will close on October 3, 2016. To solicit additional feedback, the State Board has also scheduled 17 public hearings to take place across 13 counties from Sept. 12-21, 2016. A list of hearing dates, times and locations is available at https://k12standards.az.gov/public-meetings-2016-arizona-draft-standards.
Douglas said, “Arizona parents, teachers and citizens now have an opportunity to share their thoughts and help improve these new drafts.”