After nearly a year of work, the Sioux Falls School District K-12 English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) that were adopted by the South Dakota Board of Education in November 2010.

South Dakota’s 2008 reading/language arts standards were quite similar to the CCSS, which has made the District adoption easier to accomplish. Some notable changes include a shift in focus from fiction to nonfiction in reading and writing, a focus on close analysis of texts with evidence to back up claims and conclusions, and an emphasis in teaching literacy skills in and through history/social studies, science and technical content areas. District semester tests have also been revised to reflect the change in standards.

Teachers will receive ongoing training on the new ELA CCSS with professional development sessions in August and September. Additionally, the District is providing focused training to be delivered this summer and throughout the 2012-13 school year.

The costs of the ELA CCSS alignment were approved in the FY13 budget process.

Click here for the full report.