Embedded Files
Why: Meeting varied student needs and addressing grade-level standards has always been a balancing act. Teachers have long understood that it simply isn’t possible to teach every standard with the same depth and focus. Identifying essential standards can help teachers and teams proactively plan for which standards will receive the greatest attention in the coming year. This is more important now than ever before because many students will have missed content they normally would have learned in the spring, and there will likely be additional disruptions or changes to school schedules during the 2020-21 school year. Prioritizing standards will help teachers navigate some of these challenges by:
Ensuring students are proficient in the highest instructional priorities
Maximizing time and effort on the skills and content that matter most
Aligning supplemental resources and supports such as interventions, special education services, teachers aids, tutoring, etc.
Identifying essentials for instruction during potential remote learning
Outcome: Participants will identify priority standards for one content area or course and identify potential essential gaps from the previous year to help plan for the upcoming school year.
Instructions: Together with your team, work through this module chronologically, starting with Activity #1. All documents can be opened in a new window by selecting the arrow in the top right corner.
Note: This module was designed to be completed collaboratively. If you are working on your own, please start here.
Activity #1 - Understanding Essential Standards (Suggested time: 30 min)
Activity #1 - Understanding Essential Standards (Suggested time: 30 min)
Step 1: Read
Read the brief narrative embedded to the right. Consider the following questions as you read:
What might happen if we tried to teach all of our standards with equal depth and focus next school year?
Think about your students. How might prioritizing standards specifically benefit them?
Step 2: Learn
Watch the narrated powerpoint embedded to the right. While you watch, consider the following questions:
What is an essential standard, and how does it differ from supporting standards?
How can focusing on essential standards build understanding of supporting standards?
How have you prioritized standards in the past? How might these concepts inform your planning now?
Step 3: Review Example
On your own, review one of the lists of essential standards embedded below. As you review the example, consider the following:
How do the essential standards selected meet the criteria for prioritization?
How do the supporting standards align with and build up to the essential standards?
What types of instructional decisions would this list of essential standards help a teacher make?
Optional: Watch a Think Aloud
If you're feeling unsure about how to prioritize standards, watch the narrated powerpoint embedded to the right to see and hear one teacher think through which standards are essential. While you watch, notice how this teacher uses the criteria for an essential standard to identify priorities for the year.
Activity #2 - Identify Essential Standards (Suggested time: 30 min)
Activity #2 - Identify Essential Standards (Suggested time: 30 min)
Step 1: Review the Standards
With your team, select a content area or course to focus on for your work today. Then, individually, read through all of the standards for that course and note which you would consider essential. Try to select no more than 2-3 standards per reporting category or strand.
Step 2: Create a List
On your own, create a list of up to 10 standards that you believe are essential. As you create your list, be sure to consider the criteria for essential standards. Pressure test your selected standards against these, and if you feel one you've picked doesn't represent each or most, consider changing it.
Expansive: Encompasses multiple key skills or concepts represented in other standards
Transferable: Influences learning in other subjects
Impactful: Represents knowledge or skills necessary for success in the next grade/course
Persistent: Represents a knowledge gap common to many students
Significant: Requires a sustained focus to understand
Step 3: Share
As a team, go 'round the horn and share out the standards you selected. Use a shared document to track which standards each team member selected and note which standards were selected multiple times.
Step 4: Discuss
As a team, discuss the patterns and trends you see in the standards that were selected. Consider:
Which standards were identified most frequently?
How does each standard meet the criteria for essential standards? Discuss similarities and differences in how each team member labeled the standards.
Step 5: Finalize Your List
Together, create a final list of no more than 10 essential standards for the course you selected. Consider the following as you finalize your list:
Which standards meet all of the criteria for essential standards? Standards that meet all the criteria should likely be added to your list.
Which standards were identified by more than one team member as they created their individual lists? Look at your post it notes/virtual notes that contain duplicates
Which standards meet most of the criteria? From these, which are the highest leverage and are more vital to future learning and success in upcoming grade levels?
Do the standards span your content area and represent various domains and reporting categories? (i.e. for ELA our essential standards are not all writing standards).
If your team is having trouble reaching consensus, use the "Fist to Five" protocol described below. When you've finalized your list, have one member of your team capture it in the Standards Planning Template embedded to the right. Be sure to share the document with everyone on your team!
Note: The Standards Planning Template includes space to record supporting standards that align with your selected essential standards and potential time it will take for instruction. While this is not the focus of this module, we encourage your team to find time to determine which supporting standards may align with your essential standards, and to consider how much instructional time each essential standard will require. At that time, you can use this template to capture that thinking.
Activity #3 - Filling in Gaps (Suggested time: 30 min)
Activity #3 - Filling in Gaps (Suggested time: 30 min)
Step 1: Identify Common Gaps
As a team, review the standards for the grade level or course below the one you focused on earlier. Note standards that students typically struggle with when they reach your selected course.
Step 2: Identify Gaps From Remote Learning
On your own, look again at the standards for the grade level or course below the one you focused on earlier. Note standards that students may not have mastered this spring due to remote learning. Start by considering standards that are typically taught in the fourth quarter, or that were taught early in the year and would typically be reviewed in the spring.
Step 3: Prioritize
From your list, select 3-4 standards that represent the highest-priority gaps. Consider using the criteria for essential standards to help you narrow your list. Be prepared to share!
Step 4: Reach Consensus
With your team, go 'round the horn and share out the standards you identified. Then, come to consensus on 3-4 prioritized gaps to proactively address next year. Make sure that a member of your team records these to the Standards Planning Template.
Note: There is a section on the template to record the standards for review that are aligned to your essential standards. At a later date, or with any additional time you have, consider which standards for review align with your essential standards and record these on the map. Aligned standards may be easy to teach within the context of your essential standards.
Report abuse