Hamilton City Schools

Introduction

The Instruction Department at Hamilton City Schools supports teaching and learning practices in alignment with the State of Ohio standards and where possible the suggested curriculum. Our framework revolves around providing support and direction for all teachers across content and grade levels to meet the needs of our diverse student population. Additionally, our framework sets the vision for high-quality teaching and learning and provide district-wide common language around how we will fulfill the district mission and reach our goals.

Key/Power Standards

As part of our framework, we have identified Key/Power Standards in each grade level for English Language Arts and Mathematics.

Key standards are the prioritized academic expectations that educators determine to be the most critical or essential for students to learn. It is important to note that power standards do not preclude the teaching of other standards, they merely determine the highest-priority materials. For this reason, power standards are usually limited, however, these standards will typically require students to acquire and demonstrate a strong understanding of a complex subject or sophisticated skill. The common set of criteria used to identify power standards include the following:

• Endurance - standards that focus on knowledge and skills that will be relevant throughout a student’s lifetime such as learning how to read
• Leverage - standards that focus on knowledge and skills used in multiple academic disciplines
• Essential/Readiness - standards that focus on knowledge and skills necessary for students to succeed in the next grade level or the next sequential course in an academic subject