STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION Academic Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening and Mathematics [40 Pa.B. 4372]
[Saturday, July 31, 2010]Acting under authority granted to it by Article XXVI-B of the Public School Code of 1949 (24 P. S. §§ 26-2601-B—26-2606-B), the State Board of Education (Board) on July 1, 2010, by unanimous public vote, formally approved amendments to 22 Pa. Code Chapter 4 (relating to academic standards and assessment) that will revise academic standards in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening and Mathematics, with full implementation of the revised standards required by July 1, 2013. See http://www.pde.state.pa.us.
Through these amendments, the Board has adopted a uniform set of academic standards in English language arts and mathematics developed through the ''Common Core State Standards Initiative.'' The Common Core initiative is coordinated by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers to provide a clear framework to prepare the nation's children for college and the workforce.
The Board's action moves the standards revision process forward using the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics publicly released on June 2, 2010. Since the release of the Common Core standards, 27 states (as of July 21) have adopted the Common Core standards, and the NGA expects that approximately 40 states will take action by September 2010. The kindergarten through 12th grade standards draw from best practices Nationally (including this Commonwealth's nearly 20-year history of standards-based education reform) and international benchmarking to set learning goals aligned with expectations for success in college, career and the global economy. Under the amended regulation, students enrolled in public schools in this Commonwealth (including public charter schools) will be expected to demonstrate achievement on these standards beginning in the 2013-2014 school year.
The Board's adoption of the Common Core ELA and Mathematics standards also maximizes the Commonwealth's prospects for success in receiving funding under Phase 2 of the Race to the Top (RTTT) Fund program initiated by the United States Department of Education (see 74 FR 59688 (November 18, 2009) and 75 FR 19496 (April 14, 2010)) as part of its administration of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund established by Title XIV of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. No. 111-5, 123 Stat. 115). Under the RTTT Fund program, a state must adopt Common Core standards August 2, 2010, to maximize its score in this competitive grant program. See 74 FR 59688, 59802 and 75 FR 19496, 19503. The Board's action on July 1, 2010, meets this RTTT Fund program criteria. If successful in its application for RTTT funding, the Commonwealth would receive up to approximately $400 million to advance a comprehensive school reform agenda.
The Board adopted its amendments to 22 Pa. Code Chapter 4 as a final-omitted rulemaking under section 204(3) of the act of July 31, 1968 (P. L. 769, No. 240) (45 P. S. § 1204(3)), known as the Commonwealth Documents Law (CDL). The rulemaking has been reviewed and approved by the Governor's Office of Planning and Policy, the Office of the Budget and the Office of General Counsel. The Board also has submitted the final-omitted rulemaking to the Office of Attorney General, the Education Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives and the Independent Regulatory Review Commission for review under the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. §§ 741.1—745.12), the CDL and the Commonwealth Attorneys Act (71 P. S. §§ 732-101—732-560). The Board will formally publish the final-omitted rulemaking in the Pennsylvania Bulletin following the conclusion of regulatory review.
Interested persons may contact Adam Schott, Executive Director of the State Board of Education, 333 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333, (717) 783-6808 or adschott@state.pa.us.
ADAM A. SCHOTT,
Executive Director[Pa.B. Doc. No. 10-1422. Filed for public inspection July 30, 2010, 9:00 a.m.]
