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Revised Reading and Communication Arts Content Standards adopted by SDBOE; reading standards to be assessed Spring 05

A revised version of the South Dakota K-12 Content Standards for Reading and Communication Arts was adopted by the South Dakota Board of Education at its January 2004 meeting.  Students in grades 3-8 and grade 11 will be assessed on how well they meet the new reading standards for the first time during the Spring 2005 Dakota STEP assessment;  the standards are available to schools now so that curriculum can be fully aligned in time for the 2004-2005 school year.

The content standards define what South Dakota students should know and be able to do, grade by grade, in reading, writing, listening and speaking.  A core of essential reading standards at each grade level is used as the backbone of the required NCLB reading tests for grades 3-8 and grade 11. The Department of Education will undertake the tasks of adjusting the questions on the required tests, re-aligning the reading tests to the revised reading standards, and reviewing performance standards based on the updated assessments.

Content standards define the core content that it is essential that students learn at each grade; content standards are designed to guide each school’s planning of instruction.  A core of the standards anchors assessment of student learning from kindergarten through grade 12.

The board’s adoption of revised standards culminates work by a group of over 30 K-12 teachers from across the state for two years;  the committee researched standards of learning in all areas of language arts, consulted with language arts specialists, and reviewed research studies.  Goals of the group were to make sure the standards defined essential knowledge and skills, to produce a document that would be easy for teachers to use.

State law requires schools to implement revised content standards into their course guidelines (SDCL 13-3-48);  it will be appropriate for schools to teach curriculum that is aligned to the revised reading and communications arts content standards during the 2004-2005 school year, so that students have an opportunity to learn the knowledge and skills that will be assessed by the Spring 2005 Dakota STEP tests.

The newly-revised Reading and Communication Arts Content Standards are published on the web at http://www.state.sd.us/deca/OCTA/contentstandards/index.htm ; click on Reading 2004  or Communication Arts 2004.