New Jersey’s Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS) define what every child in New Jersey should know and be able to do in grades K through 12. The CCCS are intended for all students, including those who are college-bound, career-bound, gifted and talented, disabled, from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, and limited English proficient.

Each local school district is required to teach all of the Core Curriculum Content Standards to their students. Districts are given the freedom to create the curriculum used to teach these standards in their schools.

New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards

• Visual and Performing Arts
• Comprehensive Health and Physical Education
• Language Arts Literacy
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social Studies
• World Languages
• Technological Literacy
• Career Education and Consumer, Family, and Life Skills

Why Standards are Important

Standards provide guideposts for academic achievement and clearly tell parents and students where they are going. They also help direct schools toward common academic goals and unite the community for reform and achievement.

• Know the standards. Knowing what your child should be learning will help you support his or her progress. View New Jersey’s Core Curriculum Content Standards here by subject area or view the standards for math, science, and language arts literacy here by grade level.
  
• Check with your child’s teacher to find out what your child should be doing at their age and grade level. This will help you know which behavior and learning levels are typical.
  
• Talk to your child about testing. It’s helpful for children to understand why schools give tests and to know about the different kinds of tests they will take.
  
• Make sure your child gets enough rest and adequate nutrition. Children who are tired or hungry are less likely to pay attention in class or able to handle the demands of a test.

Helpful Links:

A history of the standards movement in the state from the New Jersey Department of Education. http://www.state.nj.us/njded/parents/standards.htm

Information on each of New Jersey’s nine Core Curriculum Content Standards from the State of New Jersey Department of Education. http://www.state.nj.us/njded/cccs/

This page from the NJDOE provides detailed information about each of the nine content areas. Click on each content area to view the strands and cumulative progress indicators and a description of what students should learn from grade K-12. http://education.state.nj.us/njsdb/

This page provides information on what students should know at each grade level according to the standards. Click on the content area to view details. http://www.njpep.org/standards/revised_standards/Integrated/index.html

This page provides an explanation from Achieve on why standards are so important. http://www.achieve.org/achieve.nsf/WhyStandards?openform