Core Curriculum Content Standards

The state of New Jersey in 1996 created the original core curriculum content standards to be implemented by schools in the state of New Jersey in order to provide regardless of residency, a "thorough and efficient" education. New Jersey’s standards were created to improve student achievement by clearly defining what all students should know and be able to do at the end of thirteen years of public education. The NJCCCS include nine subject areas: visual and performing arts, health and physical education, language arts, math, science, social studies, world languages, technology, and career education. Each content area has numbered standards (e.g., 3.1, 5.2) followed by a descriptive statement. The descriptive statement provides a brief overview of the content and skills enumerated in the standard.
I am currently a health and physical education teacher for students in grade levels Kindergarten- 8th grade and did a lot of research on Health and Physical Education content standards during my professional and undergraduate career. My group critiqued the Technological Literacy content standards and learned an area outside of our comfort zone. Some of the similarities between the two content standards include: information is broad which allows teachers to be creative in implementation, encourages life long learning in subject area, organized in the same manner, do not consider special needs students, user/teacher friendly, and constantly builds and carrier over from one grade level to the next. Some of the differences are in organization because health and physical education is almost two independent subject areas, physical education standards are more detailed in nature (six standards in health and physical education, two in technology literacy), the physical education standards better organized through its layout, and the physical education standards are more reader friendly. The knowledge that is most valued in the technological literacy is basic computer skills, ethnics in computer usage, and importance of technology in society. In the physical education the knowledge that is most valued is nutrition, personal health, importance of exercise, and the benefits of a lifelong healthy lifestyle. This knowledge in the core curriculum content standards is representative of the aims of public education, because it promotes lifelong learners and a thorough and efficient education in the individual content area.