You are on page 1of 9

The Impact of Standards on Learning

Standards provide a common expectation of specific content and skill that should be

mastered by the end of a course. By providing a framework that guides instruction, standards are

intended to prevent a teacher from walking into the classroom and just randomly teaching

(Zimny, 2016). Standardized tests can be used as a tool to measure student achievement and

provide reliable data that will all teachers to modify their instruction to support student

understandings. Yet, during my early teaching years this was not true at my school site. The

data was not used to improve student achievement but as an indicator of the teachers ability. I

feared the standardized tests and stressed daily if I was going to be able to cover all the content

that might be on the test. Minimal time was used for practicing necessary analytical and critical

thinking skills because this was not required to perform well on the test. The curriculum really

was defined by the 60 questions that would be on the standardized test. Despite ample

evidence of the flaws, biases and inaccuracies of standardized exams, federal policies have

pressured schools to use tests to measure student learning and teacher quality and impose

sanctions based on test scores (Schaeffer, 2007). I viewed standards as restricted guidelines

rather than a clear expectation of content and skills all students should master. If the students did

not perform well on the standardized test then I was not an effective teacher.

My view on the role of standards in education has changed. During this course I had the

opportunity to identify standards relevant to student achievement and analyze how standards are

measured. I no longer fear standards but understand the importance of having meaningful,

appropriate standards. Standards can have a positive impact on my role as an educator.

Standards provide a backbone for instructional planning (Zimny, 2016). Standards provide a

way to measure students learning and identify successes and barriers. The clarity in the
standards is necessary to provide the appropriate adaptive feedback to the student in a timely

fashion about what content and or skills that need to be further practiced to gain mastery. I can

provide clear, constructive feedback so the student is able to understand the specific content and

skills that need improvement to be able to demonstrate a proficient level of learning. According

to Vorster (2011), we need to focus more on our students and on how we can encourage them to

become independent learners than on our command of the teaching process (p. 921). Students

should understand the expectations of the content and skills that they will be assessed on.

Educators send students strong messages about what is important by the ways in which they

assess student success in learning (Moon & Callahan, 2001, p.57). Learning is a process and

requires time and practice. The goal is to shift from a performance mindset to a growth mindset

where the student focuses on their own mastery of the content and skills.

This course provided the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of standard-

driven learning and assessment. Assessment is more than determining if students learn what

educators intend for them to learn, but assessment also involves improving both future

instruction and student learning (Bishop, Grubesic & Parrish, 2015, p.273). Students have

daily instructional lessons provide opportunities for students to practice the skills of the standard,

understand the knowledge, collaborate with their peers and receive feedback from their teacher

before their final assessment. Providing the students with a quality rubric that clearly states the

exact expectations and requirements of the standard-driven assessment early on will encourage

student responsibility and ensure that all students have the same opportunity to be successful.

The expectations should mirror the standards as well be specific in how to achieve proficiency.

The end product will demonstrate the level of understanding of the standard(s) as well as provide
valid and reliable information to the student through constructive feedback and to the teacher

about how to adapt their instruction if necessary.

Application of Standards

By focusing on what students need to know, understand, and be able to do, teachers are

more aware of what to teach (Moon & Callahan, 2001, p.52). Unpacking the standards is a

strategy that has been useful with adjusting the curriculum to support student achievement.

Unpacking the standards allow educators to identify the big ideas, enduring understandings,

essential questions, skills and content (Zimny, 2016). Effective delivery of the standards

requires a deep understanding of the value of the standard as well as the ability to show the

students the relevancy of the standard through multiple sources so each student has an equal

opportunity to construct knowledge. Implementing grade-level PLCs is essential to improve

student achievement in the core academic courses. PLCs are characterized by collaborative

processes centered on closely examining evidence about student learning and making links

across teaching, learning goals, and student thinking (Nelson, LeBard & Waters, 2010). The

needs of students can be identified quickly because the defined and clear content and skills of

each standards when the standards are unpacked. The PLC collaborates to select a new strategy

or intervention based off of reliable data when students do not demonstrate mastery of standard.

Collaboration with other teachers in a Professional Learning Community (PLC) or on an

Interdisciplinary project can be more focused and effective when cross-cutting concepts and

skills across disciplines are identified through unpacking the standards. Currently the scheduling

of the students also makes it difficult for teacher collaboration in a grade-level (PLC) or on an
IDP. Students from different grades are in the same class and the majority of the teachers teach

at least two different grade levels.

Students rotating through their schedule in learning communities encourages learner-

centered instruction because of the grouping of the students. Learner-centered instruction

embodies the application of a variety of methods that place the student at the center of

education (Altay, B., 2014, p.140). Learner-centered teaching (LCT) establishes a community

of learners with the goal of actively engaging the individual during the process of learning. The

use multiple instructional approaches alongside diverse and relevant learning experiences

addresses the unique characteristics of individual learners. Thoughtful grouping of the students

is important for the learning community to be successful as a whole. The grouping of the

learning community at my school would be based upon the students industry pathway choice:

performing arts or visual, media and digital design. Students would rotate among their academic

core in their learning community. The content and experiences of each learning community

emulate what is expected of the students in the arts industry. The goal is to engage and motivate

students to achieve by using relevant and interesting experiences.

Success of these strategies will measured three ways: the percent of students passing

their a-g courses with a C or better, learning journals and an IDP. A common rubric developed

by the PLC will be used to assess the IDP. The function of the standards based assessments is

to promote success, not to merely identify success and failure (Reeves, 2001, p.9). Students

will receive timely, constructive feedback with an opportunity to resubmit to demonstrate growth

and understanding.

Standards and Leadership


Reviewing student performance data can begin to powerfully impact instruction when

teachers investigate beyond the reported test scores and analyze student answers according to

mastery levels (Zimny, 2016). Standards provide a way to determine if students are learning

content and skills. Scores on standardized tests help determine how to assist students with

learning barriers by indicating which standards they need additional help with. My instruction

can become more effective when it is adapted and differentiated based on the skills and content

defined in the standards. Standards-driven learning focuses on utilizing standard-driven

assessments to determine the effectiveness of my instruction as well as select evidence based

strategies and interventions for improvement. It is difficult to do so when I was overly

concerned with the correlation between the score and teacher capabilities. The knowledge

gained during this course will allow me to be able to focus my instruction daily using the

standard in a purposeful and meaningful way.

The support and encouragement for teachers to take the initiative and address student

achievement is evident at my school site. However, due to the size of the school and with so

much responsibility bestowed upon each faculty member along with multiple preps very few

teachers if any have the time to volunteer. The success of site-based managed schools

frequently depends upon the willingness of teachers to work with their colleagues in taking

responsibility and directing activities of the school (Kurtz, 2009, p.13). Improving student

achievement should not be left to one individual teacher because it will not be effective due to

the obvious work that is necessary to address this student achievement. As mentioned earlier, a

collaborative effort is required for success to be considered. Without a teacher taking a lead the

work towards this goal will not have staying power. The deep understanding of the standards

gained during this course as well as the opportunity to practice analyzing the School
Accountability Report Card (SARC) data, I feel confident that I can form a PLC that addresses

implementation of standards-driven learning. An honest discussion can allow for the

appropriate strategy to be selected and support provided so that the work towards improving

student achievement makes an impact. Teachers can express that they are inexperienced with

collaboration and indicate the level of support that is required. The lack of buy-in from the staff

could simply be due to lack of experience and knowledge of how to collaborate successfully. I

will take the lead on this goal and guide the staff through this instructional shift towards

collaboration that will support student achievement.

Two activities that each PLC will be accountable for will be regular data analysis and

force field analysis to create realistic goals about how to improve student achievement. Yet, the

success of a PLC depends upon the focus. I will provide professional development on how to be

part of a PLC. I will use a power point that was created during the teacher leadership course at

ACE. The power point will provide the information about to effectively participate with a single

focus: student achievement. Information about how to complete a force field analysis will be

provided as well as practiced with the faculty to ensure that the process is understood and

completed correctly. The force field analysis allows each PLC to focus on barriers within their

control that they can eliminate to promote student achievement. As a staff, we will review how

to locate the SARC and how to effectively use the date to address student achievement.

Information about how to unpack the standards will help grade-level PLCs develop common

assessments and cross-cutting concepts to focus on will be provided as well. The information

will be provided over a series of meetings and all the information will be located so that it can be

easily accessed as a resource. Grade-level PLCs will share out at monthly faculty meetings to

address school wide goals.


References

Bishop, B. W., Grubesic, T. H., & Parrish, T. (2015). Collaborative development and assessment

of student learning outcomes for LIS electives. Journal Of Education For Library &

Information Science, 56(4), 272-282.

Dichter, A., & Zydney, J., M., (2015). Net results: Online Protocols Boost Group Learning

Potential. Journal of Staff Development 36(2), 48-50.

Moon, T. R. & Callahan, C. M. (2001). Classroom performance assessment: what should it look

like in a standards-based classroom? National Association of Secondary School

Principals: NASSP Bulletin, 85, (622), 48-57. Retrieved April 12, 2016

from http://www.sagepub.com/eis2study/articles/Moon%20and%20Callahan.pdf (Links

to an external site.)

Reeves, D. B. (2001). Standards make a difference: The influence of standards on

classroom assessment. National Association of Secondary School Principals. NASSP Bulletin,

85(621), 5-12. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.ace.edu/login?

url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/216043443?accountid=31683

Schaeffer, R. (2007). How standardized testing damages education. Retrieved from April 16,

2016 from FairTest Website:http://fairtest.org/how-standardized-testing-damages-

education-pdf (Links to an external site.).

Vorster, M.C. (2011). Teaching and learning: The critical balance in effective education. Journal

of Construction Engineering and Management, 137(10), 916-922.

Zimny, Judy (2016). Why Standards Matter. (Video Module 1, Part 3, Course CI5353: Standard-

Driven Learning). Chicago, IL: American College of Education.

You might also like