The Concept of “Power Standards”

The Concept of“Power Standards”

Basic Curriculum Development Information: Student Learning One of our challenges is to continue to strive toward making our curricular intentions, instructional activities, and assessment activities all part of an integrated whole.

The Critical Importance of the Classroom Teacher The most PERVASIVE and SIGNIFICANT type of curriculum planning is… the daily decisions made by every teacher as he or she converts general state and/or district guidelines into instructional and assessment plans.

Concepts of: • Informed Autonomy • Tightly- Loosely Coupled

Tightly – Loosely Coupled Grounded in Sound Practice StandardsAssessmentInstruction The “What” The “How Do We Know” The “How” Tightly Coupled - Elements of - Elements of Commonality Commonality Professional Autonomy Professional Judgment Professional Expertise

Implementable: Curriculum development processes/documents that are created and completed with the end intent being….. the end results will be built into the classroom/school building/school district decision-making routine.

Overview of Where We Are Headed: • Alignment of the: • Recommended • Written • Taught • Tested • With the: • Learned • Curricula

Alignment Written Recommended Student Learning (Learned) Taught Tested Curricula

Alignment Recommended Written Student Learning (Learned) Taught Tested Curricula

A means of accomplishing… Power Standards

Power Standards Are: • The heart of the heart, the essence of the essence of what we want our students to know and be able to do. • Focused on the most critical achievement targets for student learning.

WHY POWER STANDARDS • FROM FRANTIC COVERAGE OF IMPOSSIBLE CURRICULUM TO • POWER STANDARDS

WHY POWER STANDARDS • The number of school days and hours in those days has remained constant while the curriculum has expanded.

WHY POWER STANDARDS • Wisconsin has 501 academic content standards that students should know and be able to do. • When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. • For most students and teachers, 501 is not a manageable number. • 501 Wisconsin academic standards would require 15, 465 hours for students to learn • K-12 vs. K-21

Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum “Opportunity to learn[OTL] has the strongest relationship with student achievement of all school-level factors.” Robert Marzano , What Works In Classroom Instruction? (2000).

Time and Viability “ A viable curriculum is unattainable without the benefit of time. The content that teachers are expected to address must be adequately covered in the instructional time teachers have available” Robert Marzano, What Works In Schools, (2003).

The 9000 Hour Experience Over a 13 year, K-12, period of time, 12% of all student available time is involved with teacher lead instruction. Conversely, 88% of all student available time is involved “somewhere else.” Estimation….. 15,465 hours are needed to adequately address identified standards and benchmarks. Source, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)

WHY POWER STANDARDS • Power Standards or essential standards focus on a MANAGEABLE number. • AND…..

WHY POWER STANDARDS • ….helps students ad teachers avoid I.O.O.N. “instructional objective overload neurosis”

WHY POWER STANDARDS • SANE • MANAGEABLE • EFFICIENT • ARTICULATED • FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

WHY POWER STANDARDS • Standards – From The Coverage to Focus • The Old Model: State Standards District Curriculum Frantic Coverage of Every Test Objective

WHY POWER STANDARDS • Standards – From Coverage to Focus State Standards Potential Curriculum and Test Objectives Power Standards Focused Curriculum and Assessment

POWER STANDARDS THE DOUBTERS • “But we MUST cover every subject to get students ready for the next grade!” • “It’s in the standards so we MUST teach it!” • “If the kids miss a test item on the formula for the volume of a prism, it won’t be my fault. Hey—I covered it at 10:43 a.m. on March 23rd.” • I.O.O.N.-- “Instructional Objective Overload Neurosis.”

POWER STANDARDSAVOIDING THE EXTREMES • Extreme #1: “You can’t trust those teachers—you have to tell them exactly what to do every minute.” The COOKBOOK Mentality

POWER STANDARDS • Extreme #2: “Just leave me alone and let me teach—only the teacher really knows what is important for kids to learn.” The ISLAND Mentality

WHY POWER STANDARDS • Educational leaders have as a primary calling the task of distinguishing the most critical achievement targets at each stage of a student’s educational journey. • To avoid an overcrowded curriculum, educational leaders need to differentiate between those topics that are essential and those that are simply nice to know. Who move qualified then… the classroom teacher

WHY POWER STANDARDS • Power Standards identify a “Core of Knowledge”, Skills, and Reasoning and also acknowledge the uniqueness of a given student, classroom of students, and each educator’s teaching background/uniqueness

Power Standards IdentificationKey Reflective Question… • What do your students need forsuccess… • in school this year?next year? in life?in multiple disciplines? And… • on the WKCE?

WHY POWER STANDARDS • POWER STANDARDS REFLECT the concepts of: READINESS LEVERAGE ENDURANCE

Power Standards Identification Criteria • Endurance- Will this standard or benchmark provide students with knowledge and skills that will be of value beyond a single test? • Leverage- Will this standard or benchmark provide students with knowledge and skills that well be of value in multiple disciplines?

Power Standards Identification Criteria (Continued) • Readiness for the Next Level of Learning- Will this standard or benchmark provide students with essential knowledge and skills that are necessary for success in the next grade level or next level of instruction? • WKCE Preparedness- Will this standard or benchmark provide students the best opportunity to be successful when completing the WKCE?

The Concept of Power Standards • Key Question: What is the potential applicability of the concept of Power Standards to the Common Core Initiative?

The Concept of “Power Standards”