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March 1, 2001

Standards

By Jeff Branzburg

These sites provide useful and current information about educational standards, both content and technology. In addition, Jeff has also included three "archive" resources for information about the beginnings and progress of the current educational standards efforts.

STANDARDS

McREL Standards Database
This site compiles standards for K-12 curriculum in both searchable and browsable formats. A unique feature of the site is the "instant activities," which the McREL staff has developed in direct connection with the McREL Standards and Benchmarks Database. The activities (in areas such as geography, history, language arts, and mathematics) are correlated to the McREL standards and are ready for teacher use. There are activities in all grade levels, with new activities regularly added.

Putnam Valley "Developing Educational Standards"
Available since 1995, this site is one of the first to attempt to provide a "data warehouse" of information regarding standards. Look for standards information by state or subject area; search US government (or other nations) standards information; peruse various centers, clearinghouses, and labs, as well as professional organizations, newspapers, and magazines. The site indexes its sources of information about standards all in one place. It acts as a huge repository of information about educational standards and curriculum frameworks from all related Internet sources (national, state, local, and other).

Worldcom Marco Polo
The MarcoPolo program (a partnership between MCI WorldCom and seven educational organizations) provides no-cost, useable, standards-based content that works within the curriculum and provides a structured and safe Internet experience. It seeks to be the Internet equivalent of printed matter that provides credible information in a structured way to meet state curriculum guidelines. Content is in the areas of economics, geography, humanities, mathematics, science, and the arts, and is provided by organizations such as the National Geographic Society, the National Council of Teachers of mathematics, and the Kennedy Center. Examples of current content include, "The Mystery of the Voters Who Don't Vote" (an Economics Minute geared for grades 9-12, which discusses how Americans love liberty and democracy and yet many do not vote; the lesson asks and answers the question: "Why don't more Americans vote?") and "Where I Come From" (in which third through fifth graders take research into their heritage beyond the construction of a family tree, traveling through cyberspace to discover what is currently going on in their ancestral homelands). Online resources include panel-reviewed links to top sites in many disciplines, professionally developed lesson plans, classroom activities, materials to help with daily classroom planning, and search engines.

National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) Project
The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) Project is an ongoing initiative of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and a consortium of partners and co-sponsors. On this site you will find information about technology standards for students K through 12, including student profiles providing performance indicators that describe the technology competence students should exhibit upon completion of specific grade ranges; searchable lessons and units correlated to the content standards and NETS performance indicators; and ideas for connecting curriculum and technology.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Illuminations
This site is designed to illuminate the new NCTM principles and standards for school mathematics. It includes interactive activities, reflection activities, Web resources, lesson plans, and a searchable, interactive version of the updated NCTM math standards. The site includes sections such as "i-Math Investigations" (multimedia investigations such as "Shedding Light on the Subject: Function Models of Light Decay," in which students explore the development of a mathematical model for the decay of light passing through water), "Reflections on Teaching" (activities designed to encourage thinking and discussion about teaching and learning mathematics, most of which are centered around video vignettes of teachers teaching math or students learning math), and "Selected Web Resources" (links to useful mathematics education resources on the Internet that can be used to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics for all students and that help to apply the NCTM principles and standards for school mathematics).

National Council for the Social Studies
National Standards for Social Studies Teachers
The first site listed includes, "Expectations of Excellence: Curriculum Standards for Social Studies," where you can find information about the standards process in social studies and the ten themes that form the framework of the social studies standards, with examples. The second site, for "National Standards for Social Studies Teachers," describes and explains the council's national standards for social studies teachers, including program standards for the initial preparation of social studies teachers and a guidebook for colleges and universities seeking to meet NCSS/NCATE program standards for the initial preparation of social studies teachers.

Standards for the English Language Arts
Sponsored by the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) and the IRA (International Reading Association), this site provides information about the 12 standards that offer guidance for the opportunities and resources students should have in order to develop the language skills they need.

National Science Education Standards
At this site, the National Academy Press makes available the full text of the National Science Education Standards in both searchable html and pdf formats.

National Arts Education Association
This site sells a number of arts education standards publications; association members get discounted prices on publications.

National Association for Music Education
Here, you can get the complete "K-12 National Standards, Pre-K Standards, and What They Mean to Music Educators" free of charge. A $5 donation is requested to help defray the costs of online publication. These standards are also available in Spanish.

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
The download library makes available ACTFL documents (including six relating to foreign language standards) free of charge for either downloading or viewing online. These documents, in pdf format, require the Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing.

ESL Standards for Pre-K-12 Students
The Center for Applied Linguistics, in cooperation with the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, has developed a set of nine ESL Standards for Pre-K - 12 students. The standards have three goals, each of which has three attached standards.

ARCHIVES

A Nation At Risk
In 1983, the U.S. Department of Education's National Commission on Excellence in Education published the report, "A Nation at Risk." This document is often cited as the origin of current standards reform efforts.

Developing Content Standards: Creating a Process for Change
A 1993 article by the Consortium For Policy Research In Education discusses the process to develop standards. The brief outlines some lessons suggested by past and (then) current efforts to develop ambitious standards. It draws on studies by CPRE researchers of standards-setting processes in five states: Vermont, Kentucky, New York, California, and South Carolina, and three national curriculum standards projects - NCTM's efforts to develop standards for math instruction and evaluation, the College Board's design of its Advanced Placement program, and the National Science Foundation's efforts in the 1950s and 1960s to reform science curricula.

The Battle over School Standards
This site includes a 1996 U.S. News & World Report article (with links) about the educational standards movement.

Email: Jeffrey Branzburg