LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Curriculum standards

LEARN NC provides the text of these curriculum standards as a service to teachers and as a means of linking to aligned resources for instruction. We are not responsible for curriculum development. For questions, comments, and information about the current curriculum and about curriculum reform efforts, please contact the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Standards in transition

North Carolina’s standards are in a time of transition. During this time, LEARN NC will continue to support the existing North Carolina Standard Course of Study while we align our lesson plans to the Common Core State Standards and the North Carolina Essential Standards. All of these standards are available on this page:

Common Core State Standards

In 2010, North Carolina adopted the Common Core State Standards for K-12 English Language Arts and Mathematics. According to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, these standards will be used for teaching and assessment beginning in the 2012-2013 academic year. The text of the standards is available here.

We have created a guide for elementary school teachers to help them implement the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. This guide provides resources for teachers, administrators, and parents to help them understand the content and intent of the standards, their impact on teaching and learning, and how students will be assessed on these standards.

North Carolina Essential Standards

The North Carolina Essential Standards will be used for teaching and assessment in the 2012-2013 academic year.

North Carolina Standard Course of Study

The NCSCOS is no longer being taught in schools, but we will leave the Standards Matrix here until the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year to help teachers who are using crosswalks to align their SCOS lessons to the new standards.

Curriculum Grade
Career Development K–12 (available from NCDPI)
Computer/Technology Skills K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9–12
Dance Arts Education K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9–12
English Language Arts K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
English Language Development K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9–12
Guidance K–5 6–8 9–12
Healthful Living K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9–12
Information Skills K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9–12
Mathematics K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9–12
Music Education K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9–12
Science K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9–12
Second Languages K 1 2 3 4 5 6–8 9–12
Social Studies K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11–12
Theater Arts Education K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11–12
Visual Arts Education K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11–12