State Board of Education embraces U.S. standards

The State Board of Education unanimously adopted national standards for public school students Thursday, becoming one of the first states to sign on.

Noting that North Carolina has been a leader in other education advances, Board Chairman Bill Harrison said he wanted that tradition to continue.

"I think I want us to be first," Harrison said.

Harrison said the standards are in line with the new curriculum the state is developing. Both the national standards and the state curriculum will debut in 2012. Lessons will stress "higher level thinking" and real-world applications, he said.

States have been working on the common standards in math and English for about a year. The aim is to have students hit educational milestones at about the same time and to diminish confusion for students who attend schools in more than one state during their childhoods.

The standards also aim to make U.S. students more competitive with their counterparts in other industrialized nations.

States that adopt the standards before Aug. 2 get extra points on their applications for federal Race to the Top education grants. The grant could be worth up to $400 million if North Carolina wins the federal competition.