State Board of Education approves new math standards

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - The State Board of Education approves new math standards aimed at improving the state’s low math scores.

Alabama ranked at the bottom, 52nd, in the nationwide NAEP assessment. Some board members believe the new math standards will improve those scores.

“This is a good course of study that will certainly help our students," said Gov. Kay Ivey.

These new math standards are supposed to set what students need to learn in each grade level. It also added some high school courses. Here is a link to the draft version of the standards.

A task force comprised of Alabama educators spent about two years creating the standards. Earlier this year, the Governor asked to postpone the vote asking for careful review. On Thursday, the governor voted in favor of the standards, and said her concerns had been addressed.

Before the vote, several educators spoke in support of the new standards calling it “rigorous standards” and ones that will help students understand the math problems they are working.

However, other people petitioned the board to vote against the standards calling them Common Core standards. Eagle Forum of Alabama presented members with documents comparing the new course of study math standards to common core standards.

The standards passed 5 to 3. The new math standards go into effect in the 2020-2021 school year.

Ivey said she hopes they will improve the math scores, however, she said there are other steps that need to be taken. The governor wants the people to approve a ballot measure to pass a constitutional amendment doing away with an elected school board. Ivey said allowing the governor to appoint the members will take the politics out and allow members to focus on education.

Other board members said the state needs to fix its math teacher shortage in order to see significant improvements.

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