Curriculum Standards
South Carolina Academic Standards:
Standards outline what schools are expected to teach and what students are expected to learn. Academic standards also include indicators that are statements of the specific cognitive processes and the content knowledge and skills that students must demonstrate to meet the grade-level standards. SC READY test items are written to assess the content knowledge and skills described in the academic standards and indicators. ELA and mathematics standards and supporting documents are available on the South Carolina Department of Education website: http://ed.sc.gov/instruction/standards-learning/.
Know the Standards
There are six key reasons why parents should be familiar with South Carolina's academic standards:
- Standards set clear, high expectations for student achievement. Standards tell what students need to do in order to progress through school on grade level.
- Standards guide efforts to measure student achievement. Results of tests on grade-level academic standards show if students have learned and teachers have taught for mastery.
- Standards promote educational equity for all. Instruction in every school in the state is based on the same academic standards.
- Standards inform parents about the academic expectations for their child. Standards give parents more specific information for helping their child at home.
- Standards enable parents to participate more actively in parent/teacher conferences. Knowledge of the academic standards helps parents understand more about what their child is learning and what they can do at each grade level.
- Standards help parents see how the current grade level expectations are related to successive years’ expectations.