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Standards Based Teaching and Learning

Curriculum, Standards and Program of Study

The Columbia Heights Educational Campus is a standards-based school, which means that standards have been set for teacher performance, principal performance, and student performance. The academic standards set for students include what students should know and be able to do at each grade level. Curriculum is designed so that students can develop their learning through the lenses of rigor, relevance and social justice.

Content standards describe what students should know and be able to do in each subject. Curriculum is “designed backwards” from the standards and products students must demonstrate. Teachers communicate standards and class expectations to students at the beginning of the course complete with final and cumulative assessments including projects and exams. A critical part of this designing backwards is the use of unit planning based on a core question. All units have one or more major assignments, which go in the portfolio, and which are assessed with a rubric. The rubric is used as a tool by students to improve their work. Students spend a lot of time on revision. All student work receives commentary by teachers.

Performance standards indicate the kind of task a student must perform (such as writing an essay, completing an exam, conducting a scientific experiment) and the quality of student performance that is acceptable to show the content standards have been met. Student projects become part of a portfolio of essential evidence of understanding in the course, the artifacts of which students must present in order to meet the requirements of the course. (see also Project Based Learning)

The standards-based classroom includes displays that guide students through the elements of the standards based curriculum. Teachers post standards, rubrics, and exemplary student work in an effort to guide students toward work that exceeds expectations and demonstrates deep understanding of the knowledge and skills of the course. Student bulletin boards are interactive instructional tools in the classroom that teachers and students alike reference and reflect upon in order to shape students’ understanding of course requirements throughout the year.

Instructional time, when not with students, is spent making revisions to teacher work in order to help all students reach the standards via professional learning community structures like tuning protocols and the ATLAS protocol. Instructional time with students is organized into a mini-lesson, work period, and closing. The greatest amount of time goes to the work period during which students complete essential performance tasks and receive timely feedback from the teacher and their peers on their progress toward the standard. The closing allows for summarization of learning, and identification of future learning. During this time teachers use the CHEC 7, schoolwide strategies chosen for their success with diverse learners.