At its meeting today — Aug. 21 — the State Board of Education was given an online demonstration of the new model curriculum units developed by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with assistance from Missouri educators.

These units were released by the department last month as a state-level resource for mathematics and English language arts educators.

“The English language arts and mathematics units are intended to be used by teachers as we begin the transition to Missouri’s new Core Academic Standards,” Sharon Helwig, assistant commissioner for the Office of College and Career Readiness at the department, stated in a news release. “Aligning to the Core Academic Standards is the next step in ensuring all students throughout the state graduate college- and career-ready.”

College- and career-readiness is one of the department’s primary goals for becoming one of the top 10 performing states in education by the year 2020.

Missouri teachers will be piloting the draft units this school year. The units include specific examples of what is expected as part of the Core Academic Standards. Throughout the 2012-2013 school year, teachers will provide feedback to the Department on the structure and content of the units in order to make necessary adjustments. School districts are in the process of aligning their English language arts and mathematics K-12 curriculum with the Core Academic Standards at all grade levels.

The English language arts and mathematics units represent the first phase in the development of a comprehensive curriculum, which will eventually cover all academic areas.

Educators can gain online access to the model curriculum units through their school district’s user account for the department’s web applications.