Standards provide opportunity for staff development

Setting high standards is essential to ensure a high degree of learning for all students. In 1989, President Bush and the nation's governors developed six broad education goals. Goal Three specified that by 2000, students leaving grades 4, 8, and 12 would be competent in challenging subject matter including English, mathematics, science, history, and geography; and that every school would ensure that all students would be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in a modern economy. Its companion, Goal Four, said students would be first in the world in science and mathematics achievement by 2000.

Professional content area associations and state departments of education have built on the national education goals by developing standards in various disciplines as models for local school districts.

In most states and provinces, local school districts are responsible for developing standards and the curriculum to guide classroom instruction and local assessment. But, in many cases, the standards aren't paired with a curriculum that ensures students receive learning opportunities to achieve rigorous standards. Standards are often too broad, and target benchmark grade or developmental levels for instructional planning are inadequate or missing.

For example, one of the national standards developed by National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association is students will read a wide variety of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience. This standard establishes what's expected of students as the result of studying literature, but it doesn't suggest what periods or genres of literature are appropriate for students in various grades.

To develop local standards and curriculum, local districts need to examine the national standards developed by the content area associations, analyze state standards, develop a common understanding of standards (content, performance standards, and curriculum standards), and develop benchmarks to assist teachers in planning, instruction, and assessment at specific developmental, grade, or course levels.

Numerous resources are available to support local districts as they develop or revise their standards and curriculum. Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory (McREL) has developed an extensive database for districts developing and revising standards and benchmarks. Another resource is Standards Development for School Improvement in Iowa, which includes examples that are easily adapted to any district, state, or province.

As districts develop standards for student achievement, they'll be defining their expectations for student learning, guiding decisions teachers make about instruction and classroom assessment, defining the parameters for district assessment programs, and providing opportunities for professional development. Developing standards and curriculum is an excellent form of staff development. As teachers research, discuss, develop, field-test, and revise standards and curriculum, they are simultaneously clarifying their own understanding of standards, the fundamental concepts within the disciplines, examining standards-based education, and learning how to establish a standards-based learning system within their own classrooms.

With rigorous standards in place, schools and districts can focus on designing an implementation plan that provides extensive staff development, time for planning, and resources to ensure that each student has the opportunity to achieve the standards.

Effective staff development enables educators to provide challenging, developmentally appropriate curricula that engage students in integrative ways of thinking and knowing.