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Learning standards define what all students need to know and be able to do at each grade level. º£½ÇÉçÇø develops these standards and periodically updates them to align with the student learning goals outlined in . Below are answers to frequently asked questions about the initial adoption of the learning standards. Most recently updated on December 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

Initial Adoption 

What is the purpose of the initial adoption release?

Initial adoption allows school districts to begin implementation efforts while providing additional opportunities for users to give feedback, and revision suggestions to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (º£½ÇÉçÇø) directly from district and classroom use. Feedback will also be used to inform state and local technical support and professional learning.

What are the documents that will be released for initial adoption? 

Four files will be released for the K-12 mathematics initial adoption:

• Learning Standards Word Document: Provides a full introduction on the standards in a printer-friendly version for users who like a paper copy. It also includes the high school arrangements of standards to align with locally determined high school math sequences.
• Learning Standards Excel File: Provides short overviews of information to understand the new standards. Tabs provide a crosswalk between the previous math standards and the 2025 standards, the 2025 standards, with priority standards identified with multiple filter and sorting capabilities, and a glossary tab to define words used in the standards. This file is also a holding place for adding connections to WIDA and other content areas in the future.
• What¡¯s New Document: Provides a very high-level update on what is new in the standards and gives a quick summary of the changes.
• Key Shifts Document: Supports educator understanding of how the initial standards are different from the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This document can be used to support professional learning for educators to dig in and see examples of the changes that will guide them into using the standards differently.

How is º£½ÇÉçÇø taking feedback on the initially adopted standards?

º£½ÇÉçÇø is seeking feedback on the Initially Adopted K¨C12 Learning Standards through a survey. Feedback is requested on the technical assistance needs of districts from º£½ÇÉçÇø, prioritization of the standards, and structure and useability of the standards.

How will º£½ÇÉçÇø use the feedback from the initial adoption survey?

Feedback from the survey will be gathered to develop support plans/technical assistance from º£½ÇÉçÇø, help design professional learning with our educational partners, and used in consideration for further revisions to the learning standards.

How are districts supposed to use the initial standards with their currently adopted instructional materials?

Districts can use the initial adoption release of standards to examine the changes, compare the revisions to the CCSS and notice the differences and similarities of the standards. Districts can also begin using the crosswalk documents to review the alignment of the initial standards to their currently adopted instructional materials, and how the focus of the standard has/hasn¡¯t changed and how that works with instructional planning.

Will districts be expected to update their instructional materials with the updated standards?

No, there will be no expectation for districts to update their instructional materials. The adoption of instructional materials is a district process, depending on district policy, procedures, funding, and adoption cycles that are set by the district.

What other resources are being developed by º£½ÇÉçÇø to support the standards updates?

Technical support is still being planned based on feedback received through the initial adoption survey.

What does final adoption mean?

Once updates have been made to the standards from the initial adoption input, the standards will be released as the Washington State K¨C12 Learning Standards. An expected date for full classroom use will also be set. For math standards, the final adoption will take place before the 26¨C27 school year with full implementation in districts no later than the 27¨C28 school year.

Mathematics

What is new or different in the mathematics standards? 

What is new or different in the mathematics standards? Priority standards have been identified, standards have a common coding system that will be consistent for each set of content standards, and standards have been broken out by high school courses, these are some of the changes for mathematics. Breaking out the high school mathematics standards by courses (Integrated 1, 2, 3, Geometry, Algebra 1, 2, and Credit 3) was in response to specific requests by high school teachers. Please see the ¡°What¡¯s New¡± and ¡°Key Shifts¡± documents for more details.

How long will the initial adoption mathematics survey be open? 

The survey for the mathematics standards will be open from December 4, 2025 through February 13, 2026.

Funding Support

What funding support will be available for districts to supplement or update local instructional materials?

Districts may use basic education dollars and other allowable funding sources to update or supplement instructional materials. Support for implementing the updated standards is available through Educational Service District Content Coordinators, º£½ÇÉçÇø technical assistance, and trainings offered by educational partners. º£½ÇÉçÇø continues to seek additional resources to support implementation of the updated standards.

What support is available to districts to realign their report cards, district adopted instructional materials, and provide professional learning to staff?

Currently, there is no dedicated state funding provided to support districts with this work. Technical support plans, tools, and resources, are being created to include support for districts that can be used with low funding impact. Coordination with educational partners to support the implementation and efforts are also being planned.

Technical Support

What will support look like for district, building, and classroom teachers to implement the new standards?

The initial adoption survey results will provide feedback to the needs of educators for technical support. Support will consider multiple options for learning for all educational stakeholders. Consideration for accessibility, time, and funding are being evaluated. Additional support may include resources such as tools, documents, web-based modules, videos, planned agendas with activities and more. Coordination with educational partners to help support district implementation is also a focus. 

Prioritizing Standards

What process/resources were used to identify priority standards?

º£½ÇÉçÇø used a variety of resources in the review and revision process including, current research, other states¡¯ versions of standards, national partners in the content area and field, Achieve the Core, and local districts priority standards documents. Content teams reviewed the collection of information to identify prioritized standards based on the criteria of endurance, leverage, and readiness for the next level of learning. Many feedback events were held with educators in partnership with Educational Service Districts and through a contract with the Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession. Events focused on providing input on the standards and the identified priority standards. 

Many districts have prioritized the standards. Will they be directed to refine their work to follow the state suggestions?

º£½ÇÉçÇø is required to adopt the state learning standards which identify what all students must know and be able to do (.) Districts will be expected to utilize the state level priority standards. Districts may decide to also elevate additional standards as needed to align with student learning needs and district priorities.

What is the expectation for the use of prioritized standards?

Priority standards are the most important standards that every student in Washington should have a chance to learn, no matter which school they go to. These standards can should help districts decide what to focus on in professional learning, progress monitoring, and instructional materials usage. Teachers should use these key standards to decide what to teach and measure so they know when students need extra help to learn the standard or more challenging work to extend their learning. (If you work in a school district, be sure to check whether priority standards have already been established.)

What about the rest of the standards that are not prioritized?

All the additional standards for each grade level or course are used to support, connect, or reinforce the priority standards. Each of the additional standards helps students develop the understanding, knowledge, and skills needed to demonstrate learning of the priority standards and support tailored instruction for students.

Connections to State Assessments

How will [insert name of specific assessment resource] align with this work?

Our state English language arts (ELA), math, and science assessments are required by federal law to measure our state learning standards in those content areas. Once standards are initially adopted, º£½ÇÉçÇø will begin the process of evaluating the revised standards to determine if, or what, adjustments need to be made to our state assessments including the Smarter Balanced ELA and math assessments, the Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS), and the Washington Access to Instruction & Measurement (WA-AIM) alternate assessment for ELA, math, and science.

We recognize that the additions of Media Literacy, Digital Citizenship, and Data Science standards lead to questions about whether and when those new standards might be tested in the state assessments. We are coordinating with the Smarter Balanced Testing Consortium on the implementation timeline for these content areas. Implementation will begin no earlier than the 2028¨C29 school year. New items will be piloted first, and individual or school/district scores will not be used for reporting until after the pilot period.

The Data Science standards are rolling out but won¡¯t be on the test until later. When should we begin teaching them?

Much like the standards for mathematical practice, the Data Science standards reflect student habits of mind that develop across multiple years of learning, beginning in Kindergarten and continuing through high school. They build on the currently tested Measurement & Data and Statistics & Probability standards by providing additional context for work that exists elsewhere in the grade-level standards. In order for students to be best prepared to show their grasp of the Data Science standards when they do appear on state summative assessments, students will need repeated exposure to those concepts over multiple years of instruction. The Data Science standards should begin to be used no later than the 27-28 school year.