I.
(a)Beginning in the school year 2008-2009, and for each year thereafter, the specific criteria and substantive educational program that deliver the opportunity for an adequate education shall be defined and identified as the school approval standards in the following learning areas:
(1)English/language arts and reading.
(4)Social studies, including civics, government, economics, geography, history, and Holocaust and genocide education.
(5)Arts education, including music and visual arts.
(7)Health and wellness education, including a policy for violations of RSA 126-K:8, I(a).
(9)Engineering and technologies including technology applications.
(10)Personal finance literacy.
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I. (a) Beginning in the school year 2008-2009, and for each year thereafter, the specific criteria and substantive educational program that deliver the opportunity for an adequate education shall be defined and identified as the school approval standards in the following learning areas:
(1) English/language arts and reading.
(2) Mathematics.
(3) Science.
(4) Social studies, including civics, government, economics, geography, history, and Holocaust and genocide education.
(5) Arts education, including music and visual arts.
(6) World languages.
(7) Health and wellness education, including a policy for violations of RSA 126-K:8, I(a).
(8) Physical education.
(9) Engineering and technologies including technology applications.
(10) Personal finance literacy.
(11) Computer science.
(b) Teachers shall use academic and applied instruction to teach the learning areas under subparagraph (a). The following skills shall be integrated into the learning areas:
(1) Computer use and digital literacy.
(2) Logic and rhetoric.
II. The standards shall cover kindergarten through twelfth grade and shall clearly set forth the opportunities to acquire the communication, analytical and research skills and competencies, as well as the substantive knowledge expected to be possessed by students at the various grade levels, including the credit requirement necessary to earn a high school diploma.
II-a. Instruction in support of kindergarten standards shall be engaging and shall foster children's development and learning in all domains including physical, social, cognitive, and language. Educators shall create a learning environment that facilitates high quality, child-directed experiences based upon early childhood best teaching practices and play-based learning that comprise movement, creative expression, exploration, socialization, and music. Educators shall develop literacy through guided reading and shall provide unstructured time for the discovery of each child's individual talents, abilities, and needs.
III. Public schools and public academies shall adhere to the standards identified in paragraph I.
IV. (a) The minimum standards for public school approval for the areas identified in paragraph I shall constitute the opportunity for the delivery of an adequate education. The general court shall periodically, but not less frequently than every 10 years, review, revise, and update, as necessary, the minimum standards identified in paragraph I and shall ensure that the high quality of the minimum standards for public school approval in each area of education identified in paragraph I is maintained. Changes made by the board of education to the school approval standards through rulemaking after the effective date of this section shall not be included within the standards that constitute the opportunity for the delivery of an adequate education without prior adoption by the general court. The board of education shall provide written notice to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, and the chairs of the house and senate education committees of any changes to the school approval standards adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A.
(b) Neither the department of education nor the state board of education shall by statute or rule require that the common core standards developed jointly by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers be implemented in any school or school district in this state. If the local school board elects not to implement the common core standards or the common core state standards adopted by the state board pursuant to RSA 541-A, the local school board shall determine, approve, and implement alternative academic standards.
(c) The state board shall not amend any existing academic standards and shall not approve any new academic standards without the prior review and recommendation of the legislative oversight committee established in RSA 193-C:8-a.
(d) In this paragraph, "academic standards" shall have the same meaning as in RSA 193-E:2-a, VI(b).
V. (a) The general court requires every 10 years the state board of education and the department of education to institute procedures for maintaining, updating, improving, and refining the minimum standards for public school approval and the curriculum frameworks for each area of education identified in paragraph I. Each school district shall be responsible for maintaining, updating, improving, and refining curriculum. The curriculum shall present educational goals, broad pedagogical approaches, and strategies for assisting students in the development of the skills, competencies, and knowledge called for by the minimum standards for public school approval and academic standards for each area of education identified in paragraph I. The curriculum frameworks shall serve as a guide and reference to what New Hampshire students should know and be able to do in each area of education identified in paragraph I. Curriculum frameworks do not establish a statewide curriculum. It is the responsibility of local teachers, administrators, and school boards to identify and implement approaches best suited for the students in their communities to acquire the skills and knowledge included in the curriculum, to determine the scope, organization, and sequence of course offerings, and to choose the methods of instruction, the activities, and the materials to be used.
(b) The state board of education shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to the approval of alternative programs for granting credit leading to graduation.
VI. In this section:
(a) "Minimum standards for public school approval" mean the applicable criteria that public schools and public academies shall meet in order to be an approved school, as adopted by the state board of education through administrative rules.
(b) "Academic standards" means what a student should know and be able to do in a course or at each grade level.
(c) "Curriculum" means the lessons and academic content taught in school or in a specific course or program.
(d) "Curriculum framework" means an organized plan of study that serves as a guide and reference to what New Hampshire students should know and be able to do in a learning area and identifies the academic standards aligned with each learning area pursuant to RSA 193-E:2-a, I(a).
(e) "Applied learning" means an educational approach whereby students have the opportunity to directly engage in learning activities using knowledge and skills.
(f) "Logic" means a reasoning skill that better enables a student to analyze problems in learning areas such as mathematics and to develop problem solutions; to better understand the principle of cause and effect; and to develop critical thinking skills to better identify fact from unverified information or data.
(g) "Rhetoric" means the skill of speaking and writing as a means of communication or persuasion.