- The standards are more grade-appropriate and more clearly explain to teachers what students should learn and be able to do.

� The curriculum provides a better foundation for the more complex topics that students will be expected to learn in later years. The sequence of the standards provides the necessary building blocks for future learning.

The strengthened curriculum will drive both instruction and assessment in Georgia's schools, providing guidelines for teachers, students, and test makers. Under the new GPS, each course is rolled out over two years. The first year is spent helping teachers become comfortable with the new content, while the students continue to be taught and tested on the current (old) Quality Core Curriculum.

In the second year of roll out, the students will be taught and tested on the new GPS curriculum.

Training for the first pieces will begin this coming school year, with additional courses being added each year until full implementation is achieved in the 2008-2009 school year.

A timeline for the GPS phase-in is available online at www.georgiastandards.org

The new GPS Social Studies curriculum will go before the State Board of Education for final approval in October 2004.