CHARLESTON, W.Va. — With a legislative review of Common Core scheduled for next week, the state school board committed nearly two hours of its monthly meeting Wednesday to update its members on new education standards and how they are changing schools across the state.

Implementation of the controversial standards — which were retooled and rebranded in West Virginia as the Next Generation Content Standards — has been staggered over the years, with this semester being the first they have been used in every grade in all 55 school districts.

The board heard from teachers and bureaucrats alike. While their presentations recapped much of the rollout process and the coming introduction of Common Core-aligned assessments, board members were surprised to learn that many of the state’s old standards were carried over when Next Generation was adopted in 2010.

In a document circulated at Wednesday’s meeting, Department of Education officials revealed that only about 20 to 27 percent of Common Core differs from the state’s old standards.

Board member Wade Linger said this would likely surprise those who he said think the state’s adoption of the approach “was a wholesale exchange.”

“The idea that Common Core threw out everything unique about our education system just isn’t true,” Linger added. “This proves it…