the Standards just a click away - educational standards

Tap the power of the Internet to help make the standards work for you!

For many teachers, standards have became the "straw" that breaks their backs. Even experienced teachers scramble to determine exactly what "teach to the standards" means, and how they can implement standards with their already limited resources. Fortunately, the Internet provides a powerful tool to update and evaluate the various standards. This on-line information can guide you in what to teach, and possibly help streamline your curriculum.

What Are Standards?

Standards are public statements about what students should know and be able to do at a particular time. There is no standardized list of standards; they appear at national, state, and local levels.

Often, standards are divided into two categories: academic (or content standards) and performance standards (or benchmarks). An academic standard describes what the student should be able to know or do, and the accompanying performance standard measures how well the student meets the content standard.

States also have their own standards. They are more specific in their descriptions of student learning and are built upon the structure of the national subject standards. State standards serve as a catalyst for districts and schools to adapt the standards further for their community. As teachers have used standards to drive curriculum and evaluate student learning, standards have become more specific and measurable.

Finding Standards on the Internet

The Internet places thousands of standards at your fingertips. With a click of a mouse, you can access Web sites with the latest editions of standards by state, subject, national organization, or even by school. Often, the databases are searchable and offer links to related resources.

One of the best places to begin a search for standards on-line is at the Putnam Valley School District site. By clicking on your state, you will find a page dedicated to the various standards documents that directly affect you. Although the number of documents might seem overwhelming at first, it is important to know what resources are available at the state level before widening your search. You can also click on "Subject" to view additional sites related to various subject areas.

Achieve Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has created a database to help teachers compare their state standards with those in other states. The Achieve Standards Database includes an extensive collection of academic standards in language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies from the United States and abroad. The database has a side-by-side comparison of standards from different states and countries.

Subject Standards

In addition to state and national standards, various organizations have developed subject standards. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) published the first set of subject standards, which became the model for standards in other subjects. Currently, several sites of national organizations exist for specific subjects, such as math or language arts. For subjects such as the social sciences, history, geography, economics, or civics, you should search through specific sites. (See the resource box on page 82 for listings of the sites mentioned in this story.)

Several on-line databases of standards can help you sift through the thousands of standards that may apply to you. One of the best was created by the Mid-Continental Regional Educational Laboratory (McREL). McREL offers teachers a one-stop-shopping opportunity. You can search the database using keywords by standard or by benchmark. The database is especially useful if you want to find the interdisciplinary references of a lesson or unit. For example, if you're working on a language-arts unit about Native American stories and type in native and myth, the results will show standards and benchmarks relating to U.S. history. Changing the search criteria from all to any will yield additional standards in language arts, geography, and historical understanding. Choose your keywords carefully. The McREL: Lesson Plan Index also allows teachers to search for standards-based lessons.

Using the Standards

Although standards may describe goals of student learning, they do not dictate how to get there. A teacher can use standards to plan a new unit, or to refine existing curricula. "Standards are my life," says Anne Coulson, a sixth-grade math teacher from Naperville, Illinois. "All of our district standards have to line up with the state standards, so the kids will perform better on the state tests."

Coulson constantly looks beyond the state and district standards to the national subject standards. "I am fortunate in that the mathematics standards set up by NCTM are some of the best in the nation," she says. "So I am more likely to refer to national standards when I am looking for the bottom line." On one hand, Coulson has found that standards have helped streamline her teaching. However, she finds it hard to keep up with the demands made by state standards.

Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of having a comprehensive picture of the standards that apply to your classroom--national, state, and local--is that you don't have to forget about those wonderful curricular ideas that emerge from the needs and interests of your students. Although your school or district standards may not directly address your particular idea, you may find that the state or national standards do.

Understanding the various standards that apply to your classroom can focus your teaching and streamline your curriculum. Standards at the national and state levels have become working documents responding to the needs of the community and the classroom. Through the Internet, you can monitor standards development and compile a list of standards that meets the unique needs of your students. Tap into the power of the Internet, and take control of the standards!

[C]Classroom Connect. Adapted from an article by Lynn Clark ([email protected]), which first appeared in the March 2001 issue of the Classroom Connect Newsletter. That publication, printed monthly during the school year, brings educators a wide variety of articles, site reviews, lesson plans, activities, and teacher resources, all aimed at bringing the richness of the Internet into the classroom.

Standards Online

Linking With the Curriculum

Today, more Web sites than ever before are providing the link between standards and curriculum. A wonderful example is the California Department of Education's site, SCORE. Click on any major subject area (math, science, social sciences, and language arts), and you'll reach a page that addresses the unique needs of that subject and its state and national standards. For example, the science page presents an Explore the Standards tool, while the language arts page links to hundreds of core literature "CyberGuides" that align with state standards.

A search using the keywords "Standards-based lesson will pull up a number of other outstanding Web sites, including Illuminations: NCTM Standards-based Lessons and Science NetLinks, each of which focuses on a single subject area.

Publishers, such as Scholastic and Classroom Connect, align their on-line resources to national and state standards. Scholastic provides a Resources Finder that matches on-line resources to state or district standards. At Classroom Connect's "Classroom Today," every on-line activity is aligned with the McREL standards.

In science, at least three documents have gained national recognition: National Science Education Standards, Benchmarks for Science Literacy, and The Scope, Sequence, and Coordination of National Education Content Standards.

To design, develop, and implement your own Internet-based lessons that align with state standards, try The Teachers' Internet Use Guide.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Scholastic, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group