Overview | Should schools across the nation share one set of academic standards for English, math and literacy in science and social studies? How would a rewriting of standards transform American education and the experience of individual students? In this lesson, students learn about academic standards and consider the proposal of new national standards. They then perform a self-assessment, correlating the proposed or other existing standards to their own knowledge and skills, and develop personal learning plans to achieve greater mastery.
Teachers | Do you make students aware of standards? Why or why not? How do you think the new proposed national standards might change your teaching? Share ideas here.
Materials | Student journals; green, yellow and red or pink crayons or pens (one of each color per student); copies of learning standards
Warm-up | Start class by telling students to list, in their journals, what they think the learning objectives are for this course (and/or, as desired, for the core academic courses they are taking this year), focusing on this question: What skills and knowledge are they expected to develop and acquire? After a few minutes, invite students to share, and list their ideas on the board.
Resist clarifying their ideas at this time. If there is general consensus, ask how they knew these were the objectives. If ideas varied, ask why they think that might be.
Tell students that what they are talking about are learning standards, which drives school curriculum. Ask: What do you think that means? What does the word standard mean?
If necessary, define standard: something established by authority, custom, or general consent as a model or example; something set up and established by authority as a rule for the measure of quantity, weight, extent, value, or quality.
