The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA). These learning goals outline what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade. The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live. Forty-two states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) have adopted the Common Core (http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/). However, New Jersey has adopted a revised and renamed version with few substantial departures from the original. The state Board of Education approved the New Jersey Student Learning Standards, a roadmap that will outline what skills students should learn in each grade level. “It won’t be substantially different,” said Mark Biedron, president of the state board. “We looked at everything to make sure that it was crystal clear, age appropriate. Yes, there were some changes, but there were not major changes.” New Jersey will maintain about 84 percent of the 1,427 math and language arts standards that make up Common Core, according to the state. About 230 standards will be modified. Some of those changes will result in moving a standard — like when students should be able to distinguish long and short vowels — from one grade level to another. Others involve minor changes to the wording of a standard to clarify or enhance it, according to the state. The new standards have been in effect in New Jersey schools beginning in the 2017-18 school year.