Academic Standards

Office of Academic Standards

The primary purpose of the Office of Academic Standards is to serve as the authoritative source for the review, revision, and support for the implementation of state content standards in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. The Office of Academic Standards additionally supports multiple legislative and grant-related programs, initiatives, and reporting requirements.  Please visit the webpages on the side-rail to access information, materials, and resources across areas and programs.  

North Carolina Standard Course of Study (SCOS) Internal Procedures Manual

In April 2023, the State Board of Education approved the updated internal procedures' manual for reviewing, revising, and implementing content standards.  

The purpose of this manual is to provide explanation of and guidance on:

  • the process to be followed when developing or revising a section of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NCSCOS),
  • the topics, categories, and minimum supporting materials to be included in the contents of a standard course of study, and
  • the considerations that must be made as standards are being reviewed/revised/implemented.

The manual is designed to assist with the task of revising or developing a content area of the NCSCOS. It is not intended to guide the development and/or revision of local curriculum guides or other curriculum support documents.

Download the manual at the bottom of the page.

Standards Review and Revision Updates

Tab/Accordion Items

All Stakeholders Standard-by-Standard Survey for Draft 1


State Board of Education (SBE) policy specifies that the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) will formally collect feedback on the draft revised standards from educators, administrators, parents, students, institutions of higher education, business/industry representatives, national organizations, and other education agencies. The purpose of this survey is to obtain input from educators and stakeholders familiar with the Standard Course of Study (SCOS) for Dance, Music, Theatre Arts, and Visual Arts in order to inform revision decisions.

This process began with the review phase, conducted during the 2022 - 2023 school year. This review phase included gathering relevant research and analyzing data obtained through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. The data obtained was compiled by the NCDPI Office of Learning Recovery (OLR) and provided to the Arts Education Data Review Committee (DRC) for review and analysis. The DRC completed a formal report summarizing the data and trends within the feedback and making recommendations for changes. The report was provided to the Dance, Music, Theatre Arts, and Visual Arts Standards Writing Teams (SWT) as the basis to start the revision process for the 2023 - 2024 school year. The SWT launched their work in July 2023 and have created Draft 1 for public review and feedback using this survey.

The Arts Education team in the Office of Academic Standards requests your thoughtful input and comments on Draft 1 of the proposed K-12 academic standards for Dance, Music, Theatre Arts, and Visual Arts to inform any additional revisions, which may include changes, clarifications, additions, deletions, or replacements to the draft standards and their objectives.

Any individual who wishes to provide input on Draft 1 of the new SCOS for Dance, Music, Theatre Arts, and/or Visual Arts may complete this survey by clicking on the button below. This survey is estimated to take about 10-20 minutes to complete one arts discipline and should be done in one sitting. We thank you for your time and input. Your feedback is extremely valuable to the Arts Education standards revision process. 

Submit Feedback on Draft 1 (survey closes November 5, 2023)

Data Review Committee (DRC) 

The ELA Data Review Committee (DRC) has met to analyze the data collected and compiled from Standard-by-Standard surveys, regional focus groups, and individual interviews about the current ELA Standard Course of Study. The DRC is also reviewed the research, policies, and legislation that pertain to ELA.

The DRC completes a report organizing the data points, as well as the trends and themes emerging from their analysis, and ultimately makes recommendations for revision. The NCDPI ELA team then brings forward the DRC's data report to the State Board of Education (SBE) to seek permission to revise the current ELA standards. The ELA Standards will likely be on the agenda for the SBE meeting(s) in late spring.

Please see pages 14 - 16 of the North Carolina SCOS Internal Procedures Manual for additional details about the DRC work during the review phase.

On May 5, 2022, the NC State Board of Education granted permission for NCDPI to move forward with the review and revision of the K-12 Healthful Living standards, per SCOS-012.

The NC State Board of Education Standard Course of Study Manual specifies that the NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) will formally collect feedback from educators, administrators, parents, students, institutions of higher education, business/industry representatives, national organizations, and other education agencies on each draft of the revised K-12 Health and Physical Education Standards.

This process began with a review phase, conducted through the Spring, Summer, and Fall of 2022. The review phase included gathering relevant research and analyzing data obtained through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. The data obtained was analyzed by the NCDPI Office of Learning Recovery and provided to the Health and Physical Education Standards Data Review Committees (DRCs) for further review. The DRC completed a formal report summarizing the data, trends within the feedback, and any resulting recommendations. The report was provided to the Health and Physical Education Standards Writing Teams (SWT) as the basis to start the revision process and the creation of Draft 1. A survey was released to gather feedback on the first draft of the proposed 2023 K-12 Health and Physical Education Standards. The DRC completed a formal report summarizing the data, trends within the feedback, and any resulting recommendations for Draft 1. The report was provided to the SWT as the basis for the creation of Draft 2.

The second draft of the proposed 2023 K-12 Health and Physical Education Standards continues to move forward. The DRC will compile a formal report summarizing the data gained from the draft 2 surveys including feedback, trends within the feedback, and any resulting recommendations. This report will be provided to the SWT for the creation of final draft to be presented to the State Board.

On May 5, 2022, the NC State Board of Education granted permission for NCDPI to move forward with the review and revision of the K-12 Science standards, per SCOS-012. The manual was revised at the April 2023 State Board of Education meeting. 

The Office of Academic Standards’ Science team is excited to announce that the 2023 K-12 Science Standards were approved by the State Board of Education at their July 6th, 2023 meeting. The work was completed under the processes and protocols outlined in the NC Standard Course of Study Manual. The process included feedback from focus groups in each State Board region, one-on-one interviews and over 14,000 responses to surveys. Nearly 60 different professional educators from across NC districts, charter schools, and institutions of higher education helped review the response data and revise the standards. Thank you to everyone who participated in the review and revision process.

The adoption of the 2023 K-12 Science Standards is the end of the first stage in the process, with the focus now moving to the “installation” stage. Over the 2023-2024 school year, NCDPI will be working alongside leaders from PSUs to ensure all stakeholders are aware of the new standards, have opportunities to review changes from the 2009 standards, and prepare for the new standards to be implemented beginning with the 2024-2025 school year. Please note, the current 2009 Science standards will remain in place for classroom instruction and assessment for the 2023-2024 school year.

To support the start of the “installation” stage, the Science Team has prepared several documents to support school and district leaders.

K-12 Science Standards Installation Timeline  - This is an initial timeline for installation of the 2023 standards with key activities and steps for NCDPI, PSU leaders, and teachers.  The Science team will begin working with school and district science leads later this summer to prepare future support documents and plan professional development.

2023 K-12 Science Standards  - A folder containing ALL grades/courses within one document as well as each individual grade/course’s set of standards 

Crosswalks of the 2009 and 2023 Standards - A folder with a  crosswalk document for each individual grade/course’s standards

The Science team looks forward to working closely with PSU leaders over the coming months to support all stakeholders in preparing to implement the 2023 K-12 Science Standards beginning with the 2024-2025 school year.

Please be on the lookout for more information and details in the near future. Be sure to join the K-12 Science listserv to receive updates.  

In August 2022, the North Carolina State Board of Education granted permission for NCDPI to move forward with the review and revision of the K-12 NC Guidance Essential Standards, per SCOS-012.

The Office of Academic Standards is excited to announce that new standards were approved by the State Board of Education at their December 7, 2023 meeting—the adoption of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Student Standards: Mindsets and Behaviors.   The new name of the standards will be the North Carolina Student Success Standards.   The work was completed by processes and protocols outlined in the NC Standard Course of Study Manual.  The process included feedback from focus groups from each state board region, one to one interviews, and surveys distributed to the field.  A variety of professional educators from across NC districts and institutions of higher education helped review the response data for the standards process.  Thank you to everyone who participated in the review.

The adoption of the new NC Student Success Standards will begin its first stage-the installation stage in the 2024-2025 school year.   The initial implementation stage will be the next stage in the 2025-2026 school year.   The full implementation stage will be in the 2026-2027 school year.   Over the remaining 2023-2024 school year, NCDPI will be working alongside with leaders from PSUs to ensure all stakeholders are aware of the new standards and prepare for the new standards to be installed at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.  Please the note the current NC Guidance Essential Standards, will remain in place until the 2025-2026 academic school year.

Please be on the lookout for more information and details in the near future.   Be sure to join the school counseling listserv to receive updates.

 

The NCDPI World Languages team appreciates everyone who provided their input and comments on Draft 2 of the proposed K-12 World Language academic standards.  The Draft 2 data is currently being compiled by NCDPI's Office of Learning Recovery (OLR) and analyzed by the World Languages Data Review Committee (DRC). The DRC will complete a Data Report for Draft 2 with recommendations to inform Draft 3, which will be shared with the Standards Writing Team (SWT).

The World Languages SWT will meet this spring to begin work on Draft 3. Draft 3 is on-track to be done in May so that it can be presented to the State Board of Education in June.