Power standards

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Permalink Reply by Alice Mercer on November 18, 2009 at 6:48pm

Whenever that term is use in my state (California) it means the standards that occur as test questions most frequently. Since the standards are a mile wide you couldn't teach them all, so what is tested tends to take precedence.

Permalink Reply by Alline Sada on November 18, 2009 at 11:30pm

My experience has been working with "Schoolwide Goals", samething really but the name helps teachers identify where we are going and helps distinguish them from the typical subject standards.
These are ment to be embedded into all curriculum areas throughout the whole school year. Typically they have focused on Communication Skills (Reading, Writing, Oral and Listening), Thinking Skills (Creative and Critical), People Skills (Character Traits and Team Builing), and Tech/Media Skills (Computer Skills and Researching).

I think the best way to integrate these is with level rubrics (k-3, 4-7, etc) and assigning no more than 5 essential skills per grade from each area.

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Wu on November 19, 2009 at 11:11am

Thanks for the responses. I'm in CA too and have experienced the same thing regarding the CST focus. I would love to see a shift towards something more meaningful like Alline's Schoolwide Goals. I don't think the two need to mutually exclusive, but I'd love to learn from others' examples. Alline, would your school be OK with your sharing your schoolwide goals? They sound a bit like 21st century skills. Thanks.

Permalink Reply by Alline Sada on December 8, 2009 at 11:16pm

I'm actually about to publish a project online in search of feedback...
Now that many schools are moving toward tge 21st Century Skills, I'm puting together lists of Essential Skills per subject area. This way both vertical and horizontal articulation of the curriculum can be more clearly tracked.

I, personally, cannot plan my tasks/assignments with 40+ pages of "The student will evaluate the benefits of...". I like checklists. Short and clear.

This projects is aimed at teachers like me, if I want to do design an intercurricular with Language Arts, I want to be able to scan a list and find something specific to address.

I promise to let you know when it's posted. (Definetly by this weekend!)