Why don’t the standards acknowledge the importance of content knowledge?

The standards recognize both content and skills are important. In the English and Language Arts and Literacy standards the content includes: classic myths, America's founding documents, classic American literature and Shakespeare. The Common Core Standards create a staircase of increasing text complexity, so that students are expected to both develop their skills and apply them to more and more complex texts. In math, the standards include: whole numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions and decimals. In addition the standards ask students to apply mathematical thinking and reasoning.  Fluency in mathematical practice is a key component.

Catholic schools are encouraged to keep and maintain the use of excellent curricular materials that continue to support student learning, while promoting the faith.