Students Who are College and Career ready
in reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Language
The descriptions that follow are not standards themselves but instead offer a portrait of students who meet the standards set out in this document. As students
advance through the grades and master the standards in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language, they are able to exhibit with increasing fullness and
regularity these capacities of the literate individual.
they demonstrate independence.
Students can, without significant scaffolding, comprehend and evaluate
complex texts across a range of types and disciplines, and they can construct
effective arguments and convey intricate or multifaceted information. Likewise,
students are able independently to discern a speaker’s key points, request
clarification, and ask relevant questions. They build on others’ ideas, articulate
their own ideas, and confirm they have been understood. Without prompting,
they demonstrate command of standard English and acquire and use a
wide-ranging vocabulary. More broadly, they become self-directed learners,
effectively seeking out and using resources to assist them, including teachers,
peers, and print and digital reference materials.
they build strong content knowledge.
Students establish a base of knowledge across a wide range of subject matter
by engaging with works of quality and substance. They become proficient
in new areas through research and study. They read purposefully and listen
attentively to gain both general knowledge and discipline-specific expertise.
They refine and share their knowledge through writing and speaking.
they respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose,
and discipline.
Students adapt their communication in relation to audience, task, purpose, and
discipline. They set and adjust purpose for reading, writing, speaking, listening,
and language use as warranted by the task. They appreciate nuances, such as
how the composition of an audience should affect tone when speaking and
how the connotations of words affect meaning. They also know that different
disciplines call for different types of evidence (e.g., documentary evidence in
history, experimental evidence in science).
they comprehend as well as critique.
Students are engaged and open-minded—but discerning—readers and listeners.
They work diligently to understand precisely what an author or speaker is
saying, but they also question an author’s or speaker’s assumptions and
premises and assess the veracity of claims and the soundness of reasoning.
they value evidence.
Students cite specific evidence when offering an oral or written interpretation
of a text. They use relevant evidence when supporting their own points in
writing and speaking, making their reasoning clear to the reader or listener, and
they constructively evaluate others’ use of evidence.
they use technology and digital media strategically and capably.
Students employ technology thoughtfully to enhance their reading, writing,
speaking, listening, and language use. They tailor their searches online to
acquire useful information efficiently, and they integrate what they learn using
technology with what they learn offline. They are familiar with the strengths and
limitations of various technological tools and mediums and can select and use
those best suited to their communication goals.
they come to understand other perspectives and cultures.
Students appreciate that the twenty-first-century classroom and workplace
are settings in which people from often widely divergent cultures and who
represent diverse experiences and perspectives must learn and work together.
Students actively seek to understand other perspectives and cultures through
reading and listening, and they are able to communicate effectively with
people of varied backgrounds. They evaluate other points of view critically
and constructively. Through reading great classic and contemporary works
of literature representative of a variety of periods, cultures, and worldviews,
students can vicariously inhabit worlds and have experiences much different
than their own.