Academic standards for public schools have been a contentious issue for some parents and teachers in Utah and the Attorney General’s Office was asked Thursday to review the adoption of federal recommendations known as the “Common Core."
This was just one step outlined by Gov. Herbert today during a conference on education. During the conference, Herbert added that though many people in the state are divided on what standards to implement, there is actually a lot that the opposing sides agree upon, like local control of education.
“In Utah, parents, teachers, principals, local school board members in cooperation with the state school board are and always will be the primary decision makers,” said Herbert. “In what is taught and how it is taught.”
The Common Core was recently dropped by Oklahoma, Indiana and South Carolina.
Gov. Herbert also discussed the computer based testing system, SAGE which will be implemented this spring.
The assessments on SAGE are designed to adapt to the test taker by altering questions to fit that student’s comprehension level.
“There are bound to be bumps in the road during the rollout of any new program, but where there are problems, we will fix them,” said Herbert.
Individuals can express their opinion on the current standards at utah.gov/governor/standards.