The State Board of Education today voted to modify the California Additions to the adopted Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.

The Board’s action will help the state continue its progress toward implementing the Common Core State Standards, and provides options for accelerating to higher mathematics in middle school while maintaining the requirement that all students pass Algebra I before graduating from high school.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, who was required under Senate Bill 1200 to propose modifications that include basing Algebra I on the Common Core State Standards, praised the Board’s action.

“The Common Core—and common sense—calls for a students’ progress in mathematics to be based on their readiness to advance—not a timeline or a mandate from Sacramento,” Torlakson said. “Making this change now will help our schools make the transition to Common Core, and marks another step in our push to provide students the practical, real-world skills they need.”

California is part of a multistate consortium that developed the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and English, which define what students should know at each grade level. Having a single, similar set of standards nationwide will help all students prepare for college or careers, even if they change schools or move to a different state. California adopted the CCSSM that included the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics in June 2010.

The move rescinds action by the prior Board in 2010, which adopted standards that contained a unique Grade 8 Algebra I course inconsistent with the published Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.

Torlakson recommended the unique Grade 8 Algebra I course be replaced with Algebra I and Mathematics I courses based upon the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. He also recommended redundant standards in grades six and seven be eliminated. These changes clarify the mathematics standards for middle grades and provide the foundation for middle school courses, including algebra and higher mathematics courses in high school. Students must still pass Algebra I in order to graduate from high school.

Torlakson’s recommendations are presented in the Recommended Modifications to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics with California Additions and Model Courses for Higher Mathematics. The modifications were developed with the help of Mathematics Curriculum Framework and Evaluation Criteria Committee and comments from two public hearings held in January 2013.

The CDE Press office will create a CCSSM publication and post it to the California Department of Education Web site. For more information about California’s implementation of the CCSSM, please visit the Department’s Common Core State Standards Implementation Web page.