Academic Standards
2009 New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards
State of New Jersey, Department of Education
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NJ World Class Standards
2009 New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards

Introduction

New Jersey’s 2009 Core Curriculum Content Standards address two critical education priorities. The revised standards align with the knowledge and skills needed by all students for post-secondary opportunities, which may encompass: four-year college, community college, technical training, military service, direct entry into the workplace, and an array of future careers—including some that are just being envisioned and others that are currently unforeseen. In addition, the standards by necessity reflect a framework for teaching and learning that responds to the needs of 21st-century digital learners by incorporating the 'new literacies' required in an innovation economy: the ability to effectively access, evaluate, and synthesize vast amounts of information; to apply knowledge and skills to personal, workplace, and global challenges; to work collaboratively in cross-cultural settings; to solve problems creatively; and to act ethically as citizens of the world community.

These 21st-century student outcomes require a deeper understanding of academic content at much higher levels than ever before. The revised standards facilitate this in-depth learning in all content areas through the systematic and transparent integration of 21st-century knowledge, skills, and themes; global perspectives; cross content connections; and technology.  Consequently, successful implementation of the revised standards requires rethinking of traditional curricular and assessment approaches, as well as the creation of 21st-century learning environments in which teachers and students work across and beyond traditional disciplines and boundaries as engaged co-learners, critical and creative thinkers, and problem solvers.
Content Areas
The 2009 New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards include Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards as well as K-12 standards for: Visual and Performing Arts; Comprehensive Health and Physical Education; Science; Social Studies; World Languages; Technology; and 21st-Century Life and Careers. Standards for Mathematics and Language Arts Literacy are part of the Common Core State Standards initiative (http://www.corestandards.org/) coordinated by the Council of Chief States School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governor’s Association (NGA) in partnership with other national organizations.
About the Preschool Standards
Interactive Website
The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards Interactive Website enables educators to easily access the 2009 standards and standards support materials. The goal of the Website is to assist with all aspects of standards implementation, including curriculum development, curriculum mapping, instruction, assessment, and professional development. To that end, the new Website has the following features:
  • 2009 Introductions to each of the nine Core Curriculum Content Standards areas provide valuable information for educators. This information is critical for successful implementation, and therefore requires careful reading. Content in the introductory sections of the standards includes explanations of new organization and formatting schemes, calls attention to 21st-century skills areas, highlights new content-specific areas of emphasis, clarifies expectations for proficiency in targeted content areas, and more.
  • The Website search engine allows users to access the standards and cumulative progress indicators by multiple means (e.g., grade level, content area, strand, keyword, essential questions, and enduring understandings).
  • Document management tools allow users to view, print or download the standards and a host of accompanying support documents on demand. Among these support materials are Classroom Application Documents for all standards areas and related strands, which offer instructional guidance for teachers, sample state and formative assessment tasks, and multiple resources that may be linked to outside sources, such as primary source documents. Unit Plan Exemplars will be added incrementally as they are developed and field tested.
  • A later second phase of Website development will allow teachers to post lessons, activities, and resources through a juried process and will offer the use of Web 2.0 tools to support ongoing professional dialogue and growth.
Content Coordinators:

Acknowledgements: