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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Board of Education on Friday adopted a new set of mathematics standards for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Utah students and teachers won't see significant alterations in the foundational concepts taught in those grades. But education leaders view the changes as illustrative of Utah's autonomy over the expectations of what is taught in its public schools.
Math standards for both elementary and secondary schools have changed since the state adopted the Common Core standards, a basic set of academic expectations for students in English and math, in 2010.
"Ever since or even before the adoption of the Core Standards, we've maintained that the State Board of Education has the authority to change standards," said board Chairman David Crandall. "We do have control over the standards."
Questions were raised after the Utah Core Standards were adopted that prompted Gov. Gary Herbert to ask for a review of federal involvement in state education standards and whether Utah was compelled to adopt a particular set of academic expectations.
Prior to the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced No Child Left Behind last year, Utah acquired a yearly waiver from the U.S. Department of Education from adhering to portions of federal education law. But one of the conditions of being granted a waiver was that the state adopt "college- and career-ready standards," such as the Common Core.
In response to the governor's request, the Utah Attorney General's Office reported that the State School Board has control over what standards are adopted in Utah, and that local school boards decide what curriculum and textbooks to use.
However, confusion still exists among parents, according to David Smith, STEM coordinator and elementary mathematics specialist at the Utah State Office of Education.
In the process of developing the new math standards for elementary students, education leaders held meetings with members of the public over needed changes. And many public concerns boiled down to the curriculum used in the classroom, not statewide academic standards, Smith said.
"We still have some textbooks that are not interpreting things the way that we would hope they would interpret them," Smith said. "The fact of the matter is, there's this body of knowledge that you have to get across, and there are these mathematical understandings that students have to have. I feel very comfortable with these standards."
Next fall, the Davis School District will implement a new math curriculum for older elementary students that was developed completely by local educators and does away with math textbooks. The new curriculum, which was piloted in a select number of schools this year, uses technology to assist teachers and provide updates while emphasizing individual solutions for students.
It also includes helps for parents in each lesson.
As West Point Elementary teacher Rebecca Jackson said of the new curriculum, "It's really geared toward the students. … They know the 'why' instead of just memorizing a formula."
It's the kind of autonomy that state education leaders want for teachers across the state, according to Crandall.
"The flexibility that we want to preserve is in the curriculum and the delivery (driven by) the specific teachers that are teaching those subjects," he said. "We want to make sure the locals have that flexibility."
Education leaders are also hopeful that the math standards adopted Friday will provide more clarity for teachers and students. The new standards are intended to offer more intuitive definitions of mathematical terms and overall intent, and they provide examples that will better help teachers understand what is expected of students, Smith said.
A standard on money was also added for first-graders.
Overall, 88 of the 160 standards were changed for kindergarten through sixth grade. Friday's adoption came after an 18-month revision process, which included a 90-day public comment period last fall.
That process has also included a "mixed bag" of feedback from teachers, Smith said. Some teachers are seeing improvement in instruction and student comprehension, and others are having difficulty with knowing how to teach the material.
"Anecdotally, we hear about students who are reasoning more in mathematics, who are spending time really thinking about what they're doing, and therefore doing much better in mathematics," he said. "We're really trying to help teachers to gain the mathematical knowledge they need. But for the most part, we're seeing a lot of really good feedback coming in."
