FARMINGTON -- Education Commissioner Johnny Key told a group of school leaders Thursday that his state agency will stream meetings live on the Web and develop a website to keep everyone updated during the process of revising the state's literacy and math standards.
Key gave a preview to a group of school superintendents and administrators at the Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperative of what he said he will explain in greater detail during a 9 a.m. news conference Tuesday in the lobby of the Arkansas Department of Education building in Little Rock.
• Local school boards: Locally elected boards employ a superintendent to oversee day-to-day operations of the school district. Adheres to federal and state laws and policies for schools. Determines education policies for the district. Hires administrators, teachers and staff.
Source: Arkansas Department of Education
"The governor and lieutenant governor have said we don't want the next five years -- after we make our standards and revisions and get them in place -- to be like the previous five years where there's been confusion and controversy," Key said.
The state Board of Education last adopted new math and literacy standards in 2010 as the Common Core State Standards, which also were adopted by most states. The standards were implemented over a three-year period, beginning with kindergarten through second grade in 2011-12.
Criticism of the standards from some parents, educators and policymakers in Arkansas led Gov. Asa Hutchinson early this year to establish the Governor's Council on Common Core Review led by Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin.
With the council's advice, Hutchinson in June called for the state to replace annual standardized testing by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers with the ACT college entrance exam for 11th- graders and the related ACT Aspire tests for third through 10th grade.
The state Education Board approved the switch in July. That same month, the council recommended keeping the Common Core standards in place temporarily while the standards are reviewed and revised.
The goal is for Arkansas to have the highest level of standards that prepare students for college and careers, Key said. The process will involve advice from educators and communities. Key anticipates some standards will remain the same, but others will change.
Bentonville Superintendent Michael Poore told Key that one issue in the past has been that educators have not known who was on committees making recommendations. Poore also suggested the department provide a way to report back to school districts on the recommendations for changes.
"We've got to find better ways to do that," Poore said.
In the past, efforts to revise state standards have included secrecy, not to eliminate feedback but to prevent people from drawing conclusions from preliminary documents, Key said.
State officials said they want the process to be open but are concerned about balancing openness with protecting educators from being inundated with social media, emails and phone calls, Key said.
Metro on 09/04/2015