The South Dakota Board of Education Standards held the first of four public hearings on academic content standards in world language and school library yesterday (Mon.). These two sets of proposed standards will receive hearings at locations across the state this school year.
“Content standards serve as road maps for teachers, students and parents, outlining what students should know and be able to do,” said Becky Nelson, director of learning and instruction for the South Dakota Department of Education. “Standards provide consistency statewide, while instructional and curriculum decisions are made at the local school district level.”
According to state law, the Board of Education Standards must review academic content standards on a cyclical basis. In addition, the board is required to host four public hearings as part of the standards review process. The remaining three hearings on these standards will be held throughout the 2018-19 school year at board meetings in Sioux Falls, Pierre and Rapid City.
The proposed standards were developed by work groups, whose members consisted of K-12 educators, postsecondary representatives and other key stakeholders. The proposed standards and links for submitting public comment can be found at http://doe.sd.gov/ContentStandards/review.aspx.
The complete South Dakota Standards Revision and Adoption Timeline is available on the South Dakota Department of Education website.
The board also adopted changes to administrative rule that remove the requirements for paraprofessional educators to obtain and renew state-issued certificates. The requirements for state-issued certificates for paraprofessionals were part of the 2017 overhaul of the state’s educator certification rules. Today’s board action was in response to concerns expressed by some school leaders about the feasibility of the new requirements for paraprofessionals.
