The Department’s subject matter standards are used to ensure students are being exposed to rigorous and age-appropriate benchmarks of learning. Standards are not curriculum, but expectations of what students should know and be able to do at each grade level. Visit the Department’s Learning Design site to learn more about curriculum design aligned to standards.

Current core Standards

English Language Arts – Hawaiʻi Common Core

• Read the current Standards for SY 2024-2025.
• Revised Hawai’i Common Core Standards for English Language Arts (Google Doc) (Newly revised and approved standards to be fully implemented in the 2025-26 school year).

Mathematics – Hawaiʻi Common Core

• Read the Standards

Science – Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

• Read the Standards
• Parent guides to NGSS:
  • Grades K–2 (PDF)
  • Grades 3–5 (PDF)
  • Grades 6–8 (PDF)
  • Grades 9–12 (PDF)

Computer Science – CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards

• Read the Standards

Social Studies – Hawaiʻi Core Standards for Social Studies (HCSSS)

Elementary:

Secondary:

Social Studies High School Elective Courses:

Career and Technical Education (CTE) – Hawaiʻi Content and Performance Standards III

• Read the Standards (PDF)
• CTE program overview

Fine Arts – National Core Arts Standards

• Read the Standards

Health Education – National Health Education Standards: Achieving Excellence (NHES)

• Read the Standards (PDF)
• Programs for health, nutrition and wellness

Physical Education – Hawaiʻi Content and Performance Standards III

• Read the Standards (PDF)

World Languages – Hawaiʻi World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages

The Department’s World Languages Program consists of instruction in 11 languages including American Sign Language, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), French, German, Hawaiian, Ilokano, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Samoan, or Spanish, at the elementary and secondary school levels.

• Read the Standards (PDF)

Sexual Health Education

Several state laws and policies help prevent teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted infections through comprehensive sexual health education.

• State law (Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS) §321-11.1) establishes requirements for any state-funded sexual health education program. 
• Board Policy 103-5 Sexual Health EducationRead the Standards (PDF) requires the Department to implement comprehensive sexual health education.  
• A description of the curriculum utilized by the school shall be made available to parents/legal guardians and shall be posted on the school’s website prior to the start of any instruction.
  • A student shall be excused from sexual health instruction only upon the prior written request of the student’s parent or legal guardian. 
  • A student may not be subject to disciplinary action, academic penalty, or other sanction if the student’s parent or legal guardian makes such a written request.

Parents or legal guardians can also opt-out of having their children participate in instruction related to controversial issues.

Parents or legal guardians may write a letter to the school administrators or a teacher to have their child excluded from a specific lesson or activity. If such a letter is received, the student must be provided with an alternative learning activity. The parents or legal guardians have an obligation to notify the school administrator or teacher prior to the lesson or activity.