All schools in South Carolina follow the State Standards as adopted by the State Board of Education.  Each subject area has a set of standards that are routinely reviewed and updated.  The State Standards can be found here.

 

In addition to the State Standards, South Carolina has adopted the Common Core State Standards along with 44 other states and 3 US Territories.  The Common Core standards are adopted for Math and English/Language Arts (which incorporates reading, writing, listening, and speaking).  Although the standards are geared directly to math and language arts, they do have an indirect affect on science and social studies.  The Common Core standards will change how teaching and learning take place in the classroom.  Not only will all states involved have a common language now, but the level of instruction and learning (referred to as rigor) will increase.  This initiative has the potential bring the United States back up to one of the top nations in the world when it comes to education.  The ultimate goal of the Common Core State Standards is to prepare all students to be college or career ready upon completion of high school.

 

Full implementation of the Common Core State Standards will not be complete until the 2014-2015 school year.  Over the next couple of years, we will be transitioning between the already adopted SC State Standards and the new Common Core Standards.  The Clover School District has decided to be a leader in the state and is one of the most forefront districts in Common Core implementation.  More information can be found at a variety of sites.  The main site can be located here.

 

 

We have made available a series of online booklets from the National PTA broken down by grade level that explain the Common Core.  Click here for that information.

 

In addition, here is a link to a great video that introduces Common Core.  This was produced by NBC for their 2012 Education Nation series.