Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks based on Common Core Standards
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to adopt the Common Core State Standards at its meeting on July 21, 2010. You can read more about the development of these standards at www.corestandards.org. Commissioner Mitchell Chester’s July memorandum to the Board recommending the Common Core State Standards is accompanied by reports analyzing the standards.
The Commissioner will reconvene the English Language Arts and Mathematics Curriculum Framework Review Panels in September to consider augmenting the Common Core State Standards with additional standards and other features.
Since the enactment of the Education Reform Act of 1993, a great deal of work has gone into developing the Curriculum Frameworks.
What has made the process so effective is the grassroots involvement of thousands of people statewide. The task could not have been accomplished without the commitment, energy, and dedication of teachers, administrators, associations, parents, business, students, higher education faculty, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education staff, the Board of Education, and the public.
As a result of this process, the Curriculum Frameworks are of high quality, results driven, and focus on world class standards. What is important to remember is that each of the curriculum frameworks will always be considered as works in progress, and we will continue to refine them to strengthen them and to keep them current. Local communities will use the frameworks to develop more specific curriculum. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will base the new student assessment program on the frameworks.
