The Missouri State Board of Education Tuesday approved new Missouri learning standards, which will replace the Common Core standards that were thrown out last year. The standards will be used to evaluate students in the state.
Lindsay Thompson, who teaches English at Fort Osage High School in Independence, Missouri, was on the committee that worked for a year and a half to develop the new standards.
“We worked for … a very long time and came up with these set of standards that I'm incredibly proud of," she says. "It was a complete labor of love and I'm pleased that the state board decided to approve those today."
She says the standards go beyond simply teaching reading and English and have a heavy emphasis on what she describes as a "scaffolding of skills."
The committee studied learning standards in various states and consulted with regional and national education experts to develop the new standards.
Thompson says one challenge was balancing the anti-Common Core sentiment held by many Missouri educators with what is in the best interest of Missouri students, but she believes the new standards will make for a smooth transition.
Local districts will now determine curriculums to meet the new standards, which will begin to go into effect in the 2016-2017 school year.
Lisa Rodriguez is a reporter and producer at KCUR 89.3. You can find her on Twitter, @larodrig.
