Cursive Among Biggest Changes in Arizona's Common Core Replacement

The Arizona State Board of Education voted to adopt revisions to its Common Core-based K-12 math and reading learning standards Monday — nearly two years after the state started to look at making changes to the politicized standards.

 

This is the first time the state made changes to its standards since Arizona adopted its current standards in 2010. It marks the end of a lengthy chapter of Arizona policy that will factor into how students are tested and schools are graded.

 

The revisions to the state's learning standards — or Arizona's College and Career Ready Standards, as they are called — are mostly technical, although they will require students to learn cursive handwriting by fifth grade. The changes were supported by state schools Superintendent Diane Douglas, who campaigned on getting rid of Common Core.