Idaho Department of Education

All Idaho public high school graduates must meet state-adopted content standards, which serve as a minimum threshold for academic consistency statewide. School districts can set more rigorous standards but cannot fall below the state requirements outlined in IDAPA 08.02.03.102, page 11. Each district is responsible for its own curriculum to meet these standards. Idaho reviews and revises content standards every six years.

Essential Standards

The Why: In response to requests from schools and districts for guidance on essential standards, committees of educators from around Idaho collaborated in the summer of 2024 to categorize the standards of the four core content areas. This guidance helps LEAs prioritize the most critical standards, recognizing that not all standards are of equal importance. This document serves as a resource—not a mandate—to assist local efforts. We encourage LEAs to engage in this process on their own, using these documents as a resource to support their efforts. Importantly, this work did not remove or revise any of the adopted Idaho Content Standards and is intended to help LEAs refocus time and effort.

Essential Standards Definition: Teachers will explicitly teach the standard, assess students’ skills or knowledge in the standard more than once, and intervene to provide support for those students not meeting proficiency.

Elementary

Secondary ELA

Mathematics

Science

Social Studies

Essential Standards Toolkit