Washington State Learning Standards Review
Contact Information
For questions please email Standards Review.
Learning standards define what all students need to know and be able to do at each grade level. As required by state law (RCW 28A.655.070), OSPI develops the state’s learning standards and periodically revises them based on the student learning goals in RCW 28A.150.210.
Washington’s learning standards for World Languages, Health & Physical Education, and Financial Education are now due for review. To begin the process, a survey is available for the month of May to gather information from teachers of these subjects. Early in the survey, educators choose the subject(s) they teach (World Languages, Health, Physical Education, Financial Education), and will only answer questions about those subjects. A list of the questions is available to reference if needed.
Regional Coordinators from our ESDs are hosting learning standards feedback sessions during April and May 2024. Attendees will review draft versions of the revised learning standards. Each event begins with introductions to the project by OSPI staff, and provides opportunities for individual and group feedback to be submitted directly to OSPI. Select the content area to find more information and links to register for the events:
Standards Review Project Summary
OSPI has launched the Washington State Learning Standards Review project to:
- Establish a process to periodically review the state learning standards, and how those standards are used at a classroom, school, and district level to support student learning.
- Refine and prioritize the learning standards with a lens of clarification, integration, and understandability.
- Develop wrap-around guidance that clarifies for educators the opportunities within the learning standards for cultural responsiveness, inclusionary practices, universal design, support for multilingual learners, social-emotional learning, cross-content integration, and standards-based assessment practices.
- Develop an implementation plan for the following two to five years to help educators learn about and use the new resources and tools.
- Washington Learning Standards Review Timeline
Phase 1: Reflection
- 12/1/22 Consultation with Dual Language Steering Committee
- 12/9/22 Consultation with Multilingual Education Advisory Committee
- 2/8/23–2/22/23 Teachers surveyed about ELA, SLA, math, and science standards
- Late February 2023, District curriculum directors surveyed about ELA, SLA, math, and science standards.
Phase 2: Review Standards
Phase 2 is a review of ELA, SLA, Math, and Science Standards (March 2023–July 2024).
- OSPI teams determine “take-aways” from the teacher and district administrator surveys.
- With these in mind, content teams clarify and streamline the standards.
- Using expertise from other programs/divisions at OSPI, content teams develop resources that integrate other content areas (social studies, arts, health and fitness, media literacy and digital citizenship, financial education, social-emotional learning) and provide on-ramps for inclusionary and culturally/linguistically responsive instruction.
- OSPI Learning Standards Review: Mathematics Update (9.26.23)
- OSPI Learning Standards Review: Science Update (9.26.23)
- OSPI Learning Standards Review: ELA Update (01.15.24)
- OSPI consults with educators on draft documents.
- March 2024 Teacher Focus Group OSPI Presentation Slides
- April 2024 Teacher Focus Group
- May 2024 Teacher Focus Group
- June 2024 Teacher Focus Group
- OSPI teams develop a professional learning plan to share the resources developed.
Upcoming Informational Standards Review Webinars
April 18, 2024 3:00 pm Register
Previous Webinar Materials
- January 31: Standards Review Informational Presentation Slides | Recording | Webinar Q & A
- December 14: Standards Review Informational Presentation Slides | Recording | Webinar Q & A
- October 11: Standards Review Open Office Hour Presentation Slides | Recording
Updates and materials will be posted as the project progresses.