Even though New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had decided that the Common Core standards were not working for students in the state, a committee appointed to review them decided that 84 percent of the standards are good.

"New Jersey's Standards Review Committee on Monday released 232 recommended changes to the state's 1,427 math and language arts standards, which outline what students should know and be able to do at each grade level,” said NJ.com.

The committee said its intention was never to develop new standards, but rather to work with the existing Common Core standards. This means changing wording and moving standards around grade levels, but not too much else.

Specifically, most of the standard changes are to the English standards with the majority of math standards being left almost entirely alone. This is surprising for many, as frustration with the Common Core math receives a lot more attention.

"State Education Commissioner David Hespe supports each of the suggested changes and will recommend them to the state board, he said. Though the majority of the standards would remain in place, Hespe said that's not unusual when a state changes standards and the proposed changes would be a marked departure from Common Core,” said the article.

The changes, then, are unlikely to affect New Jersey’s choice of standardized testing, which is the PARCC.

Notably, the standards leave enough of Common Core in place that the committee recommended the state keep using standardized tests produced by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) — a multi-state consortium creating Common Core-aligned tests that has endured much backlash,” said the Daily Caller.

This is in spite of several thousands of students opting out from the PARCC just last year.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

1/13/2016