AB Topic Taxonomy Update (March 2021)
The Academic Benchmarks Topic Taxonomy (ABTT) employed in Standards Alignment was created in 2011 to give content publishers and curators a common language for describing and tagging learning materials and resources including lessons, passages, articles, videos, test questions and books, so content can be searched, discovered, recommended and connected to other learning assets. Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Standards in the AB repository are tagged with the ABTT.
As new trends in standards data develop, we evaluate our taxonomy tagging to identify the need for new, revised, and reorganized nodes to cover gaps, add specificity, and clarify intent of existing nodes. Updates were made in 2016 and 2019. To better reflect current U.S. and International K-12 Standards in Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies, the ABTT was updated for 2021.
What is the scope of the change?
The taxonomy is being updated as well as standards tagging in all core-4 subjects in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The following table outlines change types, effect of change, and actions you may take.
| Change Type | Effect | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Topic/Theme name change | Theme or Topic name will reflect new wording for clarity |
Refresh standards data for the latest wording |
| Reparent | Topic will be moved to a different Theme (parent) for clarity in context |
Refresh standards data for the latest hierarchy |
| New node | New Theme or Topic node will be added to expand taxonomy coverage |
Refresh standards data for up-to-date tagging Review new Topics for applicability to your content |
| Merging existing nodes |
Two Topics will be combined into one to better reflect the nature of the standards |
Refresh standards data for up-to-date tagging Remap any content tagged to the Topic being deleted to the remaining Topic |
When is this change taking effect?
Taxonomy
The taxonomy updates took place in March 2021. A list of all taxonomy Theme and Topic changes described in the table above are available upon request from the Elevate Standards Alignment Support team.
Standards Tagging
Updates to standards tagging took place March-April 2021.
How can I get more information?
For questions about these changes, contact the Elevate Standards Alignment Support team.
