Standards, Standards, Standards!

Standards. A word that you hear hand in hand with education with much critique. Before reading up on standards all I knew were the basics. That teachers teach to the standards. I pretty much have a different concept the more I read up on them. My concept of learning standard is they are the overall goals of what students are expected to know by the end of the lesson or the unit. Every state has their own standards except Iowa. State and local standards are more common and more specific and grades four, eight and twelve are important years for standards. The first subject which introduced standards was mathmatics in 1989 by the National Council of Teachers of Mathmatics, and in the same year Congress adapted eight educational goals. Soon to follow were history, geography, science, the arts, and civics. There are two standards: Content and Performance. Content standards are what students should know and be able to do, while performance standards measures the student's work. It is important for schools to have standards because it is a unified goal and focus for everyone to look to. Teachers, students, parents, and the community all have one clear idea what is expected of schools. It is a way of teachers to keep track of how students are performing and where areas they need further assistance in. It also lets students know what is expected of them and what they should be able to accomplish at the end of a lesson or unit.

Whether people are saying standards are a good thing or just makes teachers "teach to the test", I believe that standards are an organized goal that can put everyone on the same page. It lets teachers and students know what is expected of them in each grade, and lets parents in on what is going on in their child's classroom. Even though it can make a class cut and dry, teachers can find creative ways to teach their students to meet the standards. It should not have to fall all on teaching by the textbooks. If a teacher can make teaching fun and interesting I do not see any problem with standards being an ultimate focus and goal for everyone to share!


This is the website that my professor Dr. Smirnova gave us for a reference, and where I got most of the information to guide me through my standards journey!
Standards Website