Education

Standards and Learning Targets

Teaching Approaches and Strategies

• Grade-level standards serve as the foundation for quality-first instruction.
• Lessons are designed with the end in mind so that standards-based criteria for success are clear for students.
• Lessons consider students' needs, interests, and passions.
• The learning target is measurable.
• The criteria for success are clear to students and the performance tasks provide evidence that students are able to understand and apply learning in context.

• The intentional organization of the what (resources) and the how (instructional approaches) that engages learners in the why.
• Learning experiences and instructional techniques are designed to achieve specific learning goals (Backward Design Planning).
• Instructional approaches scaffold the development of the targeted concepts and skills and gradually release responsibility, leading to learner agency and ownership.
• Teachers strategically use static (paper/pencil), flexible (adaptive software), customizable (resources teachers curate in a Learning Management System) content to meet the diverse needs of students.

• The teacher makes decisions and utilizes instructional approaches in ways that intentionally support his/her instructional purposes.
• Instruction reflects and is consistent with pedagogical content knowledge and is culturally responsive, in order to engage students in disciplinary habits of thinking.
• The teacher uses different instructional strategies, based on planed and/or in-the-moment decisions, to address individual needs. (Examples include: AVID, High Yield Pedagogical Practice).
• Students are provided opportunities to develop deep understandings of the content and topic in order to discuss it and write about it.
• Teachers implement instruction, intervention, and assessment approaches that have been proven effective through research indicating improved outcomes for students. (CO-MTSS:Evidence-Based Practices).
• Students' academic language reflects discipline-specific habits of thinking in ways of communicating.

Standards and Learning Targets

Planning

Teaching Approaches and Strategies

• How is the learning target meaningful and relevant beyond the particular lesson?
• How do students communicate their understanding about what they are learning and why they are learning it?

• How does the intended learning relate to concepts central to understanding the discipline?
• How can teachers make authentic, real-world connections to the material?
• How are teachers planning gradual release to ensure students become autonomous?
• How can the teacher use static, adaptive, and customizable instructional tools to ensure that students learn at the level of the standard?

• How do teachers ensure that students understand the purpose of each lesson?
• How do teachers provide critical thinking opportunities for all students?
• How do teachers provide multiple access points to the grade level material so that all students have opportunities to interact with grade level material?
• How are teachers building vocabulary knowledge and providing students opportunities to practice the ow of academic language?

Standards and Learning Targets

Planning

Teaching Approaches and Strategies

• 1a: Teachers provide instruction that is aligned with the Colorado Academic Standards and their district’s organized plan of instruction.
• 1b: Teachers develop and implement lessons that connect to a variety of content areas/disciplines and emphasize literacy and mathematical practices.

• 3a: Teachers demonstrate knowledge about the ways in which learning takes place, including the levels of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development of their students.
• 3b: Teachers use formal and informal methods to assess student learning, provide feedback, and use results to inform planning and instruction.
• 3c: Teachers integrate and utilize appropriate available technology to engage students in authentic learning experiences.
• 3d: Teachers model and promote effective communication.

• 2b: Teachers demonstrate an awareness of, a commitment to, and a respect for multiple aspects of diversity, while working toward common goals as a community of learners.
• 2c: Teachers engage students as individuals, including those with diverse needs and interests, across a range of ability levels by adapting their teaching for the benefit of all students.
• 3e: Teachers provide students with opportunities to work in teams and develop leadership.