During the 1994 Legislative Session, a thorough system of public schools was defined and the State Board of Education was directed to write new Rules Governing Thoroughness for public schools. From this beginning, the Content Standards were created (reference Standards Implementation Chronology).
Beginning with in 1998 and proceeding to implementation in 2005, more than 375 volunteers from varied backgrounds dedicated over 35,000 volunteer hours to create the Content Standards. Statewide public hearings were held to gather input throughout the entire process.
All students graduating from Idaho public high schools must meet locally established Cut Scores (formerly Proficiency Standards). The Idaho State Content Standards are the minimum standards to be used by all Idaho school districts to establish a level of academic achievement necessary for students to graduate from Idaho’s public schools. Each school district may set standards more rigorous than the state Content Standards.
Content Standards are statements expressing specific subject criteria which, when measured, show a specific level of content knowledge and demonstrated application. In order to create a K-12 seamless educational system, Content Standards have been created in seven subject areas for K-12: