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
The Office of Academic Standards is proud to announce the approval of the 2024 North Carolina Standard Course of Study for K-12 Arts Education. The newly approved K-12 Arts standards aim to provide a Comprehensive Arts Education while developing students as artists in the fields of Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts.
Key features of the 2024 North Carolina Standard Course of Study for K-12 Arts:
- ALL four arts disciplines are now aligned to the National Arts Standards strands of Connect, Create, Present, and Respond
- Continuous Throughlines ensuring vertical alignment of K-12 objectives
- To remove confusion about the “Proficient” level of the proficiency based standards and align with the National Standards this level has been renamed “Accomplished”
- In Theatre Arts, Technical Theatre Courses have been added in both non-honors and honors levels
- K-8 General Music standards are extended into high school in both non-honors and honors levels
- Five proficiency levels of Vocal and Instrumental Music have been created for students exploring band, choir, orchestra, piano, ukulele, guitar, or other instruments and ensembles
Note: The current 2010 Arts Standard Course of Study will remain in place for classroom instruction and assessment for the 2024-2025 school year.
Please see the Arts Crosswalks for Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts located on the Arts Education resource hub for a general comparison of the current and newly adopted Standard Course of Study. They provide initial insight into similarities and differences between these sets of standards.
Public School Units (PSUs) are expected to implement the 2024 North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Arts starting in the 2025-2026 school year. Professional learning and resources to support PSU implementation will begin to be shared in fall 2024.
The NCDPI Arts Team expresses their gratitude to the educators, language experts, and community members who contributed to the development of these standards. Their collaboration and expertise have been crucial to ensure the standards set expectations that will allow students to be innovative thinkers.
For resources and more information about K-12 arts, please visit the NCDPI Arts Education webpage and resource hub or contact Brandon Roeder or Dr. Laura Stauderman, Arts Education Consultants.
Standards Writing Team (SWT) Application Window Closed
The English Language Arts Standards Writing Team (SWT) application closed on May 31, 2024. Over 100 applications were submitted, and at this time, a cross-agency team is reviewing applications. Notifications of selection will be communicated in the coming weeks!
Applicants selected for the English Language Arts SWT will represent a range of external stakeholders from the eight State Board of Education regions who will be able to provide varying perspectives and experiences regarding the current ELA Standard Course of Study.
Planning is underway for the initial meeting of the SWT. In the revision phase, the SWT will create drafts of new K-12 standards for English Language Arts based on the recommendations of the ELA Data Review Committee (DRC). They will also draw on extensive data collected during the review phase from surveys, focus groups, interviews, and research.
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 Office of Academic Standards’ Healthful Living team is excited to announce that the 2024 K-12 Healthful Living Standards were approved by the State Board of Education at their June 6th, 2024, 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 responses to multiple surveys. 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 2024 K-12 Healthful Living Standards is the end of the first stage in the process, with the focus now moving to the “installation” stage. Over the 2024-2025 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 2011 standards, and prepare for the new standards to be implemented beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. Please note, the current 2011 Healthful Living Standards will remain in place for classroom instruction and assessment for the 2024-2025 school year.
To support the start of the installation stage, the Healthful Living Team is preparing several documents to support school and district leaders.
The Healthful Living Team looks forward to working closely with PSU leaders over the coming months to support all stakeholders in preparing to implement the 2024 K-12 Healthful Living Standards beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.
Please be on the lookout for more information and details in the near future. Be sure to join the Healthful Living listserv to receive updates.
In March 2024, the Office of Academic Standards announced the review phase kick-off for the K-12 Mathematics Standards. Per the Internal Procedures Manual, the review phase consists of data collection and analysis, as well as research. The team has begun preparing the various surveys, planning focus groups and interviews, conducting research on other state, national and international standards, reviewing current legislation and policies, and creating consistent communication with stakeholders.
The Math Standards review phase will follow the process outlined in the Internal Procedures Manual. All K-12 math standards will be reviewed during this process.
Through the Summer and Fall of 2024 the K-12 Math team will be completing the research review and collecting data via surveys, focus groups, and interviews. In the late Fall the team will conduct an application process to seek members of the Math Standards Data Review Committee (DRC). The committee is tentatively scheduled to meet in January of 2025 to review the analysis of the data collected from the surveys, focus groups and interviews.
Additional updates on the K-12 math team’s progress will be posted on this page in the future.
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 Office of Academic Standards’ World Languages Team is proud to announce the approval of the 2024 North Carolina Standard Course of Study for World Languages. The newly approved standards are intended to cultivate proficiency and intercultural competence in a classical, heritage, or modern language and help develop globally collaborative students.
Key features of the 2024 North Carolina Standard Course of Study for World Languages include:
- Objectives organized by proficiency level using the ACTFL proficiency scale
- Streamlined strand structure and objectives, including a new Intercultural and Communities Connections (ICC) strand
- Reordered standards emphasizing target language input and output
- Inclusion of the Advanced High proficiency level increasing the rigor of student outcomes
Note: The current 2010 World Languages Standard Course of Study will remain in place for classroom instruction and assessment for the 2024-2025 school year.
Please see the World Languages Crosswalk for a general comparison of the 2010 World Languages Standard Course of Study and the 2024 World Languages Standard Course of Study. It provides initial insight into similarities and differences between these two sets of standards.
Public School Units (PSUs) are expected to implement the 2024 North Carolina Standard Course of Study for World Languages starting in the 2025-2026 school year. Professional learning and resources to support PSU implementation will begin to be shared in fall 2024, with the finalized Proficiency Outcomes Document coming soon. See the World Languages’ Installation Timeline for more information.
The NCDPI World Languages Team expresses their gratitude to the educators, language experts, and community members who contributed to the development of these standards. Their collaboration and expertise have been crucial to ensure the standards set expectations that will allow students to be competitive in post-secondary pursuits-- college, career, or military-- and throughout their lives.
For resources and more information about World Languages, please visit the NCDPI World Languages webpage and resources hub or contact Dr. Ann Marie Gunter, World Languages Consultant.