Academic Standards in Georgia

 Educators play an integral part in education.  The role of an educator is to provide instruction and guidance to facilitate students’ learning and ensure that students complete the various academic curriculum standards. In turn, the purpose of such standards is assisting educators and students to successfully attain the goal of effective teaching and learning. However, one must note that educational standards are not created by classroom teachers.  While classroom teachers must implement academic standards of education. It is the obligation of a state’s board of Education to create and approval educational requirements and standards. Furthermore, these academic requirements and standards are developed for every level (primary and secondary schools) and various types (public, catholic, Christian, charter and home schooling).   In the state of Georgia, teaching and learning required standards have been modified and reconstructed over the course of time. In general, the standards have been updated to conform with modernization, federal regulations, and the economy.  The Common Core Georgia Performance Standards preceded The Georgia Standards of Excellence.

Standards

Standards are tools used to measure progress, meet a threshold or establish a best practice.  In education, standards are a fundamental element in assessing the education system.  Statistics show that students in other countries around the world perform at a higher rate than students in America, especially in core content areas.  Research such as this has become a catalyst for improving America’s education system across the board.  The United States is a dominant first world country that is look upon as a role model for other countries. Therefore, the research showing that the U.S. lags behind some second and third world countries is telling. Consequently, there a serious push to increase educational standards in the United States. Education standards provide the necessary groundwork for national and local decisions to be made regarding curriculum­­ (in text source).   State Board of Education receives feedback and input into education standards by various groups including parents, staff, law enforcement and local business communities.  Historically, academic progress in Georgia has been evaluated by two different standards called Common Core Georgia Performance Standards and Georgia Standards of Excellence.

Common Core Georgia Performance Standards

 Georgia places value on the significance of having standards that set clear intentions and instructions what students should be learning and demonstrating by the end of each academic school year.  The Common Core Georgia Performance Standards circulated among a plethora of states and gives educators, students, and their parents a way to collectively work toward a common goal. “The state of Georgia chose to adopt the Common Core standards to ensure that all students graduate from high school prepared with the skills that that they will need in college, careers and life” (in text citation).  

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The Common Core Georgia Performance Standards were written for English, Mathematics and Literacy in History, Science and the Technical Subjects.  The Common Core standards outline what students should know and be able to do, but do not specify how teachers should teach, what materials should be used, or what curriculum should be used for instruction. Decisions such as these continue to be made by the state and the district. (in text source https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/commoncore). The Common Core Georgia Performance Standards were adopted Georgia’s board of Education in Fall 2012. The Common Core will ensure that teachers instruct, and students learn the knowledge and skills to meet the challenges both present and future, including communications skills, perseverance in problem solving, technical reading and writing, literacy across disciplines, and the most important mathematical skills.

Georgia Standards of Excellence

The Georgia Standards of Excellence are a set of standards that act as an organized system to propel students to achieve success as they matriculate through college and into the professional world.  Fine Arts, English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Literacy in Social Studies, Science & CTAE, Physical Education, and Special Education are the contents included under these standards.   The Georgia State Board of Education approved the Georgia Standards of Excellence and made it part of the curriculum in Winter 2015 (in text source).

Changes

The educational system in the United States is very parochial.  “Unlike most developed countries, the United States does not have a national model for educational progress. Individual states and school districts set their own agendas.  The Common Core was created to give participating states a more uniform plan for academic progress that supporters — including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — say is necessary to keep American students globally competitive. In many schools, the Common Core’s timetable for progress is considered more rigorous than what had previously been used.”  

Summary

This summary clearly outlines the past and present academic standards in Georgia.  Through the summary, the reader can understand what changes were made and why these changes were necessary.  Each section of the rubric has been carefully taken into consideration.  The teaching and learning academic standard developments that the state of Georgia experienced was included, along with supporting details.  The delivery of the information is well organized and presents a clear and persuasive viewpoint of each of the academic standards.  In text citations were included and the information was obtained from credible sources and can be found on the reference page.  I would give myself a perfect score for each criterion listed on the rubric.References

Curriculum and Instruction. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2019, from https://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Curriculum-and-Instruction/Pages/default.aspx

Georgia Performance Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved June 09, 2019, from https://www.georgiastandards.org/Standards/Pages/BrowseStandards/BrowseGPS.aspx

Georgia Standards of Excellence. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2019, from https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Pages/default.aspx