In April 2012, the Verona Board of Education unveiled a sweeping set of changes to the curriculum in Verona’s public schools. Tonight, Tuesday, April 30, Director of Instructional Studies Elizabeth Jewett will tell the BOE how the changes have panned out.
Most of the changes stemmed from New Jersey’s adoption of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a set of guidelines for math and English instruction that grew out of research for the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. The Common Core, which has been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia, is designed to teach kids what they need to succeed in college and at work. New Jersey adopted the Common Core in June 2010 and school districts began phasing it in in 2011.
As outlined last year, the changes were expected to fall hardest on students in H.B. Whitehorne Middle School. The Common Core brought in 11 new academic requirements to fifth grade that were previously in Verona’s curriculum at a higher level. There were 14 changes to sixth grade, again material that was brought from upper grades to the middle school. As shown in the chart below from last year’s presentation, many of the changes were in math instruction.
The BOE meeting will be held in the library at Verona High School, beginning at 8 p.m. It is free and open to the public.
