K-12 education content standards in North Carolina

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See also: K-12 education content standards in the states

This page features the following information about who sets K-12 education content standards in North Carolina public schools:

• The state entity with the authority to approve K-12 education content standards.
• Whether North Carolina requires or recommends that local schools or districts follow the K-12 education content standards.
• The statutory or regulatory language in North Carolina governing the development and application of K-12 education content standards.

Background

State education officials develop content standards in order to facilitate curriculum development for public schools. This section examines the role of content standards in public instruction and the different state approaches that either require or recommend their use in public schools.

What are content standards?

Content standards are educational learning and achievement goals that state education officials either require or recommend that local schools satisfy in K-12 instruction. Content standards are not curriculum but rather aim to guide the development of what state officials view as a robust K-12 curriculum.

The development of K-12 education content standards in public schools varies across the 50 states. State boards of education, state education agency leaders, and local school districts, for example, may play a role in the development and approval of content standards.

Do states recommend or require schools to follow content standards?

State statutes or regulations may require or recommend the use of K-12 education content standards in public instruction.

Some states require local schools to align curriculum with content standards by establishing content standards as a minimum course of study. Such states may also require local schools or districts to adopt content standards as part of their curriculum, or they may require students to demonstrate mastery of content standards through state assessments.

Other states recommend that local schools or districts follow state content standards.

Who sets state K-12 education content standards in North Carolina?

The following section provides information about the development and application of K-12 education content standards in North Carolina as of research performed in 2022.

The table below identifies the state entity tasked with setting content standards, whether the content standards are recommendations or requirements for local schools, and the governing statute(s). The text of the governing statute(s) is provided below the table.

North Carolina K-12 education content standards
Entity	Recommendations or requirements?	Statute or Regulation
State Board of Education	Requirements	North Carolina General Statutes § 115C-12-9c

North Carolina General Statutes § 115C-12-9c:

"

Powers and duties of the Board generally. The general supervision and administration of the free public school system shall be vested in the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education shall establish all needed rules and regulations for the system of free public schools, subject to laws enacted by the General Assembly. In accordance with Sections 7 and 8 of Article III of the North Carolina Constitution, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, as an elected officer and Council of State member, shall administer all needed rules and regulations adopted by the State Board of Education through the Department of Public Instruction. The powers and duties of the State Board of Education are defined as follows: ... (9c) Power to Develop Content Standards. – a. The Board shall develop a comprehensive plan to revise content standards and the standard course of study in the core academic areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, history, geography, and civics. The Board shall involve and survey a representative sample of parents, teachers, and the public to help determine academic content standard priorities and usefulness of the content standards. A full review of available and relevant academic content standards that are rigorous, specific, sequenced, clear, focused, and measurable, whenever possible, shall be a part of the process of the development of content standards. The revised content standards developed in the core academic areas shall (i) reflect high expectations for students and an in-depth mastery of the content; (ii) be clearly grounded in the content of each academic area; (iii) be defined grade-by-grade and course-by-course; (iv) be understandable to parents and teachers; (v) be developed in full recognition of the time available to teach the core academic areas at each grade level; and (vi) be measurable, whenever possible, in a reliable, valid, and efficient manner for accountability purposes. b. High school course content standards shall include the knowledge and skills necessary to pursue further postsecondary education or to attain employment in the 21st century economy. The high school course content standards also shall be aligned with the minimum undergraduate course requirements for admission to the constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina. c. The Board also shall develop and implement an ongoing process to align State programs and support materials with the revised academic content standards for each core academic area on a regular basis. Alignment shall include revising textbook criteria, support materials, State tests, teacher and school administrator preparation, and ongoing professional development programs to be compatible with content standards. The Board shall develop and make available to teachers and parents support materials, including teacher and parent guides, for academic content standards. The State Board of Education shall work in collaboration with the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina to ensure that teacher and school administrator degree programs, ongoing professional development, and other university activity in the State's public schools align with the State Board's priorities.

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See also

• K-12 education content standards in the states
• Overview of trends in K-12 curricula development
• Use of the term critical race theory (CRT)

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