Some (but not all) of the work of transforming such general purposes into more precise teaching goals and even more precise objectives has been performed by broad US organizations that represent educators and other experts about particular subjects or types of teaching (Riley, 2002). The groups have proposed national standards, which are summaries of what students can reasonably be expected to learn at particular grade levels and in particular subjects areas. In the United States, in addition, all state governments create state standards that serve much the same purpose: they express what students in the state should (and hopefully can) learn at all grade levels and in all subjects. Examples of organizations that provide national standards are listed in Table 10.1, and examples of state standards are listed in Table 10.2 for one particular state, Ohio, in the area of language arts.
|
Subject |
Organization |
|
English and Language Arts |
Council of Teachers of English American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages |
|
Mathematics |
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics |
|
Physical Education and Health |
National Association for Sport and Physical Education American Cancer Society |
|
Science |
National Academies of Science American Association for the Advancement of Science |
|
Social Studies |
National Council for the Social Studies Center for Civic Education National Council on Economic Education National Geographic Society National Center for History in the Schools |
|
Technology |
International Society for Technology in Education |
|
Other Specialized Standards Statements |
|
|
American Indian Content Standards |
Center for Educational Technology in Indian America |
|
Ethical Standards for School Counselors |
American School Counselors Association |
|
Information Literacy Standards |
American Association of School Librarians |
|
Business Education |
National Business Education Association |
|
Parent Education and Involvement |
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) |
Source: <http://www.education-world.com/standards>, accessed December 5, 2006.
Summaries of all of these standards, as well as access to the relevant web pages of the corresponding organizations, can be found at this website. Because standards are revised continually, and because of the dynamic nature of websites, the information may differ slightly from the above when you actually access it.
|
Grade-level: |
Classroom example: |
|
Kindergarten-Grade 3: Read accurately high frequency sight words. |
Play a game: “How many words can you see around the classroom that you can read already?" |
|
Grade 4-7: Infer word meaning through identification and analysis of analogies and other word relationships. |
Have students keep a journal of unfamiliar words which they encounter and of what they think the words mean. |
|
Grade 8-10: Recognize the importance and function of figurative language. |
Have students write a brief essay explaining the meaning of a common figure of speech, and speculating on why it became common usage. |
|
Grade 8-10: Recognize the importance and function of figurative language. |
Have students write a brief essay explaining the meaning of a common figure of speech, and speculating on why it became common usage. |
|
Grade 11-12: Verify meanings of words by the author's use of definition, restatement, example, comparison, contrast and cause and effect. |
Have students analyze an essay that includes unfamiliar terms using clues in the essay to determine their meaning. |
Source for standards: Ohio Department of Education, 2003, p. 30-31
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