Over the last few months, there has been a great deal of emphasis placed on developing common academic standards that are to be achieved by students throughout the country. Currently, each state is responsible for developing its own set of standards. While many states do make an effort to align their standards with the national standards that have already been developed, this isn’t always the case. In an effort to offer more consistency throughout the country, however, there has been a greater push to make certain all schools are focusing on achieving certain core standards. The following is a look at the standards that are currently being considered.

Reading Standards

· Determine both what the text says explicitly and what can be inferred logically from the text.
· Support or challenge assertions about the text by citing evidence in the text explicitly and accurately.
· Discern the most important ideas, events, or information, and summarize them accurately and concisely.
· Delineate the main ideas or themes in the text and the details that elaborate and support them.
· Determine when, where, and why events unfold in the text, and explain how they relate to one another.
· Analyze the traits, motivations, and thoughts of individuals in fiction and nonfiction based on how they are described, what they say and do, and how they interact.
· Determine what is meant by words and phrases in context, including connotative meanings and figurative language.
· Analyze how specific word choices shape the meaning and tone of the text.
· Analyze how the text’s organizational structure presents the argument, explanation, or narrative.
· Analyze how specific details and larger portions of the text contribute to the meaning of the text.
· Synthesize data, diagrams, maps, and other visual elements with words in the text to further comprehension.
· Extract key information efficiently in print and online using text features and search techniques.
· Ascertain the origin, credibility, and accuracy of print and online sources.
· Evaluate the reasoning and rhetoric that support an argument or explanation, including assessing whether the evidence provided is relevant and sufficient.
· Analyze how two or more texts with different styles, points of view, or arguments address similar topics or themes.
· Draw upon relevant prior knowledge to enhance comprehension, and note when the text expands on or challenges that knowledge.
· Apply knowledge and concepts gained through reading to build a more coherent understanding of a subject, inform reading of additional texts, and to solve problems.
· Demonstrate facility with the specific reading demands of texts drawn from different disciplines, including history, literature, science, and mathematics.

Writing Standards

· Establish and refine a topic or thesis that addresses the specific task and audience.
· Gather the information needed to build an argument, provide an explanation, or address a research question.
· Sustain focus on a specific topic or argument.
· Support and illustrate arguments and explanations with relevant details, examples, and evidence.
· Create a logical progression of ideas or events, and convey the relationships among them.
· Choose words and phrases to express ideas precisely and concisely.
· Use varied sentence structures to engage the reader and achieve cohesion between sentences.
· Develop and maintain a style and tone appropriate to the task, purpose, and audience.
· Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard written English, including grammar, usage, and mechanics.
· Represent and cite accurately the data, conclusions, and opinions of others, effectively incorporating them into one’s own work while avoiding plagiarism.
· Assess the quality of one’s own writing, and, when necessary, strengthen it through revision.
· Use technology as a tool to produce, edit, and distribute writing.
· Synthesize information from multiple relevant sources, including graphics and quantitative information when appropriate, to provide an accurate picture of that information.
· Convey complex information clearly and coherently to the audience through purposeful selection and organization of content.
· Demonstrate understanding of content by reporting facts accurately and anticipating reader misconceptions.
· Establish a substantive claim, distinguishing it from alternate or opposing claims.
· Link claims and evidence with clear reasons, and ensure that the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims.
· Acknowledge competing arguments or information, defending or qualifying the initial claim as appropriate.

Speaking and Listening Standards

· Select and use a format, organization, and style appropriate to the topic, purpose, and audience.
· Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly and concisely.
· Make strategic use of multimedia elements and visual displays of data to gain audience attention and enhance understanding.
· Demonstrate command of formal Standard English when appropriate to task and audience.
· Listen to complex information, and discern the main ideas, the significant details, and the relationships among them.
· Follow the progression of the speaker’s message, and evaluate the speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
· Ask relevant questions to clarify points and challenge ideas.
· Respond constructively to advance a discussion and build on the input of others.

Mathematical Practice Standards

· Attend to precision.
· Construct viable arguments.
· Make sense of complex problems and persevere in solving them.
· Look for and make use of structure.
· Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Number Standards

· Understand that the real numbers include the rational numbers and are in one-to-one correspondence with the points on the number line.
· Understand that quantities can be compared using division, yielding rates and ratios.
· Understand that a fraction can represent the result of dividing the numerator by the denominator; equivalent fractions have the same value.
· Understand that place value and the rules of arithmetic form the foundation for efficient algorithms.
· Compare numbers and make sense of their magnitude.
· Know when and how to use standard algorithms, and perform them flexibly, accurately and efficiently.
· Use mental strategies and technology to formulate, represent and solve problems.
· Solve multi-step problems involving fractions and percentages.
· Use estimation and approximation to solve problems.

Quantity Standards

· Understand that the value of a quantity is not specified unless the units are named or understood from the context.
· Understand that the quantities can be added and subtracted only when they are of the same type (length, area, speed, etc.).
· Understand that the quantities can be multiplied or divided to create new types of quantities, called derived quantities.
· Know when and how to convert units in computations.
· Use and interpret quantities and units correctly in algebraic formulas.
· Use and interpret quantities and units correctly in graphs and data displays.
· Use units as a way to understand problems and to guide the solution of multi-step problems.
· Understand that expressions are constructions built up from numbers, variables, and operations, which have a numerical value when each variable is replaced with a number.
· Understand that complex expressions are made up of simpler expressions.
· Understand that the rules of arithmetic can be applied to transform an expression without changing its value.
· Understand that rewriting expressions in equivalent forms serves a purpose in solving problems.
· See structure in expressions.
· Manipulate simple expressions.
· Define variables and write an expression to represent a quantity in a problem.
· Interpret an expression that represents a quantity in terms of the context.

Equation Standards

· Understand that an equation is a statement that two expressions are equal.
· Understand that the solutions of an equation are the values of the variables that make the resulting numerical statement true.
· Understand that the steps in solving an equation are guided by understanding and justified by logical reasoning.
· Understand that equations not solvable in one number system may have solutions in a larger number system.
· Understand a problem and formulate an equation to solve it.
· Solve equations in one variable using manipulations guided by the rules of arithmetic and the properties of equality.
· Rearrange formulas to isolate a quantity of interest.
· Solve systems of equations.
· Solve linear inequalities in one variable and graph the solution set on a number line.
· Graph the solution set of a linear inequality in two variables on the coordinate plane.

Function Standards

· Understand that a function is a rule, often defined by an expression, that assigns a unique output for every input.
· Understand that the graph of a function f is a set of ordered pairs (x, f(x)) in the coordinate plane.
· Understand that functions model situations where one quantity determines another.
· Understand that common functions occur in families where each member describes a similar type of dependence.
· Recognize proportional relationships and solve problems involving rates and ratios.
· Describe the qualitative behavior of common types of functions using graphs and tables.
· Analyze functions using symbolic manipulation.
· Use the families of linear and exponential functions to solve problems.
· Find and interpret rates of change.

Modeling Standards

· Understand that mathematical models involve choices and assumptions that abstract key features from situations to help us solve problems.
· Understand that even very simple models can be useful.
· Model numerical situations.
· Model physical objects with geometric shapes.
· Model situations with equations and inequalities.
· Model situations with common functions.
· Model situations using probability and statistics.
· Interpret the results of applying a model and compare models for a particular situation.

Shape Standards

· Understand that shapes and their parts, attributes, and measurements can be analyzed deductively.
· Understand that congruence, similarity, and symmetry can be analyzed using transformations.
· Understand that mathematical shapes model the physical world, resulting in practical applications of geometry.
· Understand that right triangles and the Pythagorean theorem are central to geometry and its applications, including trigonometry.
· Use multiple geometric properties to solve problems involving geometric figures.
· Prove theorems, test conjectures and identify logical errors.
· Construct and interpret representations of geometric objects.
· Solve problems involving measurements.
· Solve problems involving similar triangles and scale drawings.
· Apply properties of right triangles and right triangle trigonometry to solve problems.

Coordinate Standards

· Understand that locations in the plane or in space can be specified by pairs or triples of numbers called coordinates.
· Understand that coordinates link algebra with geometry and allow methods in one domain to solve problems in the other.
· Understand that the set of solutions to an equation in two variables forms a curve in the coordinate plane—such as a line, parabola, circle—and the solutions to systems of equations correspond to intersections of these curves.
· Translate fluently between lines in the coordinate plane and their equations.
· Identify the correspondence between parameters in common families of equations and the location and appearance of their graphs.
· Use coordinates to solve geometric problems.

Probability Standards

· Understand that probability models outcomes for situations in which there is inherent randomness, quantifying the degree of uncertainty in terms of relative frequency of occurrence.
· Understand that the law of large numbers provides the basis for estimating certain probabilities by use of empirical relative frequencies.
· Understand that the laws of probability govern the calculation of probabilities of combined events.
· Understand that interpreting probabilities contextually is essential to rational decision-making in situations involving randomness.
· Compute theoretical probabilities by systematically counting points in the sample space.
· Interpret probabilities of compound events using concepts of independence and conditional probability.
· Compute probabilities of compound events.
· Estimate probabilities empirically.
· Identify and explain common misconceptions regarding probability.
· Adapt probability models to solve real-world problems.

Statistics Standards

· Understand that the statistical methods take variability into account to support making informed decisions based on quantitative studies designed to answer specific questions.
· Understand that visual displays and summary statistics condense the information in data sets into usable knowledge.
· Understand that randomness is the foundation for using statistics to draw conclusions when testing a claim or estimating plausible values for a population characteristic.
· Understand that the design of an experiment or sample survey is of critical importance to analyzing the data and drawing conclusions.
· Formulate questions that can be addressed with data. Identify the relevant data, collect and organize it to respond to the question.
· Use appropriate displays and summary statistics for data.
· Interpret data displays and summaries critically; draw conclusions and develop recommendations.
· Draw statistical conclusions involving population means or proportions using sample data.
· Evaluate reports based on data.