Standards Review Working Principles

 

 

Through this comprehensive standards review initiative, we will:

 

 

1.  Include three levels of standards:

 

·     Student learning standards (content);

 

         These standards will detail what students will be expected to learn. 

 

·     Teacher knowledge standards; and

 

These standards will parallel the student standards. They will specify the knowledge that teachers should have to enable students to reach each learning standard.

 

·    System infrastructure standards.

 

These standards will specify those elements that are beyond the control of students and teachers, for example, access to technology, books, and other materials.  These standards would also specify professional development for teachers and administrators.

 

 

2.      Develop a single set of standards for each content

     area.

 

Some students may need different levels of support or scaffolding to achieve the learning outcomes (e.g., struggling learners, English language learners, students with disabilities). A single set of standards will ensure that expectations for all students are the same.  Although these standards will specify that all students should work to achieve the same levels of proficiency; they will also acknowledge the need to provide differential instruction for different populations.  Different levels of resources may also be required for some students to achieve the specified levels. 

 

If all students are expected to become proficient in English Language Literacy, a set of standards to which all students should      aspire must be created.  Reaching those standards may require different instructional techniques at different developmental levels.  For English Language Learners who are literate in their first language,             there is substantial transfer between that first literacy and a second literacy in English.  Instruction should capitalize on the transfer rather than assuming that students have no knowledge of literacy skills.  For ELLs who are not literate in their first language, it may be effective to conduct literacy instruction in the native language first, then capitalize on that cluster of skills.  If literacy instruction is to be conducted solely in English, care must be taken to ensure that the students have sufficient English Language proficiency to benefit from that instruction.  The nature of the instruction will vary as a function of the developmental level of students and the native language of those students.  The instructional support needed to become skilled in literacy will focus on a single set of goals, but will change across contexts.  These variations should be reflected in curricular documents, not in standards.

 

 

3.     Infuse basic and academic literacy throughout all the

      content areas.

 

Currently the standards/performance indicators do not acknowledge differences in literacy across disciplines.  It has become apparent in recent work that there are substantial differences in reading skills across disciplines.  Content area assessments do not assess the ability to read in different content areas.  These assessments minimize literacy demands, focusing instead on content knowledge.  There is a need to assess the degree to which students are able to read content area materials in order to determine whether they are or can become independent learners in the disciplines.  Assessments that focus on literacy need to include the full range of text genres.

 

The 2009 Reading Framework for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, for example, uses the following range of genres:

Literary text

Story

Literary nonfiction (such as narrative essays, speeches, and autobiographies or biographies)

Poetry

 

Information text

Exposition

Argumentation and persuasive text

Document and procedural materials

 

            Source:  Salinger, T., Kamil, M. L., Kapinus, B., & Afflerbach, P.  (2005)  Development of a new framework for the NAEP reading assessment. In B. Maloch, J. V., Hoffman, D. L. Schallert, C. M. Fairbanks, & J. Worthy (Eds.),  54d Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 334-349).  Oak Creek, WI:  National Reading Conference.

 

4.       Infuse cultural aspects of literacy throughout all the

      content areas as appropriate.

 

Literacy is heavily influenced by culture.  The ability to recognize cultural influences and negotiate them is a critical literacy skill and            should be recognized in the standards and on assessments of those standards.  The responsibility of every learner is to seek and learn about diverse perspectives.  Cultural aspects of literacy should be infused into curricula development and instruction.

 

 

5.       Infuse real life application skills throughout all the

      content areas.

 

Infusing real life application skills throughout all the content areas           will address the need for students to have the necessary skills to enter the workforce and/or pursue post secondary education.  In addition, students will be gain viable citizenship skills. The value of enabling students to understand the connection between their studies in all content areas and real life application of skills and knowledge cannot be overstated.  This infusion must also be reflected through curricula development and instruction.

 

 

6.       Develop measurable standards.

 

Standards should be measurable, observable, or demonstrable, although this does not mean that paper and pencil forms of assessments are the only options.  For every standard there should be some way of assessing it.  If there are no ways to measure, observe, or have students demonstrate mastery of a standard, it should not be included.  This is related to the issue of whether all standards will be assessed.  While there might not be a one-to-one alignment between assessments and standards, it is the case that all standards will be assessed, at least implicitly.  For example, if a student can demonstrate comprehension of plot, it also means that that student is demonstrating the mastery of word identification, etc.

 

 

7.  Review PreK-12 standards within the context of a

     seamless P-16 continuum.

 

The basic intent of this set of standards is to provide students with the necessary skills to succeed when they enter schools and to provide them with the ability to choose any path they wish to when they graduate high school.  Thus, the standards have to account for the skills that students need before they enter school as well as the skills they will need when they enter the work force or pursue post secondary education.

 

 

8.       Integrate technology throughout all the content

     areas.

 

The influence of technology has extended to the types of texts (multimedia) as well as the uses of those texts.  While “new literacy” requires an even higher degree of “old literacy,” there are new skills that are required.  To this end, one proposal is to add to the standards, two new categories, PRESENTING and VIEWING.  PRESENTING involves selecting, synthesizing, and organizing information to convey a message.  Conversely, VIEWING is the obverse of presenting.  VIEWING involves comprehending, critically examining, and making use of the information in a presentation.  These are not limited to technology, but technology has changed the ways in which information has been presented and viewed.  The most obvious variable is the inclusion of multimedia elements in documents.  For other ways in which technology has affected literacy, one needs to look no further than search for information on the internet.