Curriculum and Instruction

Common Core State Standards Initiative

In December 2010, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the 

Massachusetts Board of Early Education and Care adopted new standards for English language arts and literacy across the disciplines, referred to as the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts and Literacy (2011). The new standards incorporate the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History /Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects and a small number of supplemental Massachusetts standards and features.

Commissioner Chester has set the expectation that all public school districts and charter schools in the Commonwealth will have aligned their curricula to the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts and Literacy (2011) and the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Mathematics (2011) by the end of the 2012-13 school year.

Massachusetts Side-by-Side Comparison Documents

The documents found at the below URL compare the new standards to the previous standards and are designed to help districts align their curricula, instruction, and assessments to the 2011 standards including: 

• Comparison of the Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 8 2011 Massachusetts standards with the standards of the Math Curriculum Framework (2000) and Supplement (2004)
• Comparison of the 2011 Massachusetts ELA and Literacy Standards with the standards of the ELA Curriculum Framework (2001) and Supplement (2004)
• Comparison of the new 2011 mathematics model high school course standards with the high school mathematics course standards in the Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework (2000).
• Comparison of the new 2011 Grade 8 standards with the Algebra I course standards in the Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework (2000)

http://www.doe.mass.edu/candi/commoncore/?section=comparison