A Standard of Measure

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A Standard of Measure
Melinda Butler EDCI 650
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Standard of Measure

• Something established by authority, custom, or
  general consent as a model or example

• As Christians we are held to high standards on
  how to live a life of service to God and others

• Proverbs 35-7
• Colossians 110, 35-10

• We are given detailed instruction on how to
• Make decisions
• Carry them out
• Assess how weve done

We are also provided with rewards -- 2 Peter
18-11
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Standards in Education

• Skills and levels of competency that all students
  must possess in order to move through the
  educational system.

• Statements that identify essential knowledge and
  
• skills to be learned -- taught.

• Set by local, state, federal groups

• Goal set clear, high expectations for what all
  
• students should know and be able to do at each
  
• grade level.

• Assessed through standardized testing.

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The Wave of School Reform
National Standards Meets World Class Standards
America 2000 Goals 2000
A Nation At Risk
No Child Left Behind
1983
2001
Criticized schools Linked decline of U.S.
Ability to compete globally With decline in
school quality
Accountability
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Higher Achievement For All
Aligned Professional Development
Better Teaching School
Flexibility
More Instructional

Time for
Remediation.
Guide for Improvement Motivation To Improve
Theory of Standards Based Reform
Clear High Expectations For Students
School Accountability
Ambitious Standards
Aligned Assessment
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Benefits of a Standard Based Design

• Supports good learning and assessment
• High expectations
• Provides focus for educators
• Reinforces best teaching practices
• Establishes accountability

Proponents State

• Changes in expectations and accountability needed
• This design holds the greatest hope for improving
  student achievement

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Important Structural Guidelines

• Standards need to be
• Clearly stated
• Free from jargon
• Succinct
• Assessment need to be
• Aligned with standards
• Remedial tools
• Teacher Quality needs to be
• Highest quality
• Supported by professional development

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Areas of Concern

• Opponents state
• Little empirical evidence of effectiveness
• Difficult for educators to define what students
  should know

• Top-down standards dont consider How children
  learn
• Test driven methods lower quality of education
  overall

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Leading Opponents Alfie Kohn -- W. James Popham

• rhetoric of standards is turning schools into
  giant test-prep centers, effectively closing off
  intellectual inquiry and undermining enthusiasm
  for learning and teaching (Kohn, 2000).
• standard is being misconstrued tricking us
  into thinking that it will become the new panacea
  in education while implying standard-based
  assessments becomes a tool that promotes
  students mastery of these content standards
  (Popham, 2003).

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• Making students accountable for test scores works
  well on a bumper sticker and it allows many
  politicians to look good by saying that they will
  not tolerate failure. But it represents a hollow
  promise. Far from improving education, high-
  stakes testing marks a major retreat from
  fairness, from accuracy, from quality, and from
  equity. --- Senator Paul Wellstone (1944-2002).

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High Stakes Accountability

• Concern over high stakes tests
• Culturally biased
• Not objective measures of ability or achievement
• Used to pass judgment on teaching and schools
• Affected by inequitable dispersement of funds and
  resources

If bonuses for high scores are dangled in front
of teachers or schools or punitive
consequences are threatened for low scores
chances are far greater that a meaningful
curriculum will be elbowed out to make room for
test-oriented instruction. -- Alfie Kohn, 2000
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Standards and Curriculum Design

• Bottom Line - How to align curriculum with
  standards to improve student learning.
• Curriculum alignment - the match or fit between
  the curriculum and the assessment

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Benjamin Bloom

• Blooms Taxonomy
• Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Cornerstone for establishing Behavioral
  Objectives
• Earliest form of curriculum alignment
• Programmed/Mastery Curriculum
• 1960s early 1970s
• Detailed Learning Objectives formed basis for
  lesson planning

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Curriculum Alignment Design
Fenwick English
Leading Advocate in Curriculum Alignment
Curriculum
Continuous Connections

Frontloading
Backloading
Testing
Teaching
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Frontloading

• Alignment established by working from the
  curriculum to the test
• Develop curriculum first then select,adapt, or
  develop the test that fits the curriculum

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Backloading

• Alignment established by beginning with the test
  and working back to the curriculum
• The content of the test becomes the content of
  the curriculum
• Easy - Inexpensive
• Favorite process when concerns with High Stakes
  Tests

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Combining Frontloading/Backloading

• Backloading
• Aligns curriculum with test objectives to raise
  test scores
• Frontloading
• To develop classroom assessments that are in
  alignment with existing classroom curriculum

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Popular Designs

• Standards Linking
• Judy F. Carr Douglas Harris
• Succeeding with Standards

• Backward Design
• Understanding by Design
• Wiggins McTighe, 1998

• Curriculum Mapping

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Standards Linking
Reporting
Current State
Comprehensive Assessment System
Curriculum and Assessment Plan
Action Plan
Vision
Student Profile
School Decisions
Supervision and Evaluation
Resources
Professional Development Plan
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Backward Design
Identify Desired Results Enduring Understanding
Essential Questions
Determine Acceptable Evidence Assessments
that are ongoing, varied
Plan Learning Experiences Activities,
Materials, Resources that guide
students to enduring understanding
Develop Lesson Plan
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Curriculum Mapping
Curriculum concepts
School Calendar Events
Widely used by school districts
Activities
Teachers use it as a tool to keep track of
what Has actually been taught throughout the year
then Modify and refine next years curriculum
Assessments
Standards and State guidelines
Collect Data Use Calendar Based Format
Review Data May involve Individual or Group
Identify Changes Needed to Align Curriculum
Major Benefit School wide input and involvement
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Conclusion

• Important -
• Development of curriculum based on clearly
  established standards.
• Problems -
• Accountability through Increased State and
  Federal Pressures and High Stakes Testing
• Effects General School Structure, Classroom
  Environment, Teaching Strategies,Student Well
  Being

Assessment
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References

• American Federation of Teachers. (1996). A system
  of high standards What we mean and why we need
  it. http//www.aft.org//Edissues/standards/higsta
  n.htm
• (Retrieved February 3, 2003).
• David, J. L., Shields, P. M., Humphrey, D. C.,
  Young, V. M. (2001). When theory hits reality
  Standards-based reform in urban districts, Final
  narrative report. Menlo Park, CA SRI
  International.
• English, F.W. Frase, L.E. (1999). Deciding
  what to teach and test Developing, aligning, and
  auditing the curriculum. Newbury Park, CA Corwin
  Press.
• Gandal, M. (1997). Making standards matter An
  annual fifty-state report on efforts to raise
  academic standards. Washington, DC American
  Federation of Teachers.
• Gandal, M. Vranek, J. (2001). Standards Here
  today, here tomorrow. Educational Leadership,
  September, 59 (1) 6-13.
• See notes below for continuation of list