Concept to Classroom: Tapping into multiple intelligences

Letter to Administrator
Syllabus
    Explanation
    Demonstration
    Exploration
    Implementation
    Resources
Rubric and List of Critera

In this section, we have provided you with the following tools to help you acquire professional development credit for this workshop. If you are interested, we suggest that you print these items and discuss them with your administrator.

Syllabus

Concept to Classroom: Teaching to Academic Standards

In this section of the workshop, participants will examine what standards are, what they mean, how they are set and by whom, why they are important, and the kinds of criticisms surrounding standards-based curriculum. The following questions are addressed:
1. What are academic standards?
a. Participants learn that standards are the WHAT of education, while curriculum and instruction are the HOW.

2. What's different about academic standards?
a. Participants examine how parents, students, and teachers can ask through written documents whether their school is helping students reach the agreed-upon benchmarks.

3. What do standards have to do with my classroom?
a. Participants examine how standards guide what is taught in their classroom.

4. How have standards developed since they began in the early 1990s?
a. Participants examine how national organizations and most states embark on their own standards-setting processes.

5. Another Perspective
a. Participants read a transcript of an interview with Marc S. Tucker, an educational theorist and standards advocate, in which he answers questions about standards.

6. What are the benefits of academic standards?
a. Participants examine how teachers can see how well they are doing by looking at their progress towards standards.

7. How can standards help students to learn better?
a. Participants see how students learn better in a standards-based environment because everybody's working toward the same goal.

8. What do critics of standards have to say?
a. Participants examine how critics of standards tend to fall into three major camps with specific platforms.

In this section of the workshop, the participants examine some concrete examples of standards being used in the classroom. In addition, they are able to review some actual lessons and activities that use standards, as well as an example of how to improve a standards-based lesson.



	In this section of the workshop, the participants have many opportunities to analyze what they're already doing well, as well as to explore new standards-based teaching techniques that they can add to their repertoire. The following questions are addressed: 1. How do I start using standards? a. Participants examine how to begin implementing standards by aligning curriculum with the standards, selecting appropriate textbooks and materials, and selecting and attending standards-based professional-development workshops. 2. What are the challenges I will face? a. Participants examine how the challenges of standards are a consequence of the fact that standards-based education is a major shift in the way schools do business. 3. How do I assess students' progress? a. Participants learn how they can see progress every day by aligning every assignment and activity with standards. 4. How does technology complement this approach? a. Participants examine how the use of technology complements standards-based education if it helps students to reach standards. 5. How do I introduce standards to the parents and community? a. Participants examine how the sooner parents, school -board members, and the community can feel part of the shift to standards, the more likely they are to understand and support.



	In this section of the workshop, the participants are provided with a framework to design their own lessons aligned with standards. The framework includes form elements that participants can use in planning lessons. 1. How to Use the Form in Designing a Lesson a. Participants fill out a blank template for the standards-based lesson plan format.

For a complete listing of all the books, articles, Web sites, and videos listed as resources for this workshop, please see http://www.thirteen.org/wnetschool/concept2class/resources.html.

Council for Basic Education (CBE). STANDARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION: A GUIDE FOR PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND PRINCIPALS FOR EVALUATING AND IMPLEMENTING STANDARDS FOR EDUCATION. Washington, D.C.: CBE, 1998.

Marzano, Robert J., and John S. Kendall. A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO DESIGNING STANDARDS-BASED DISTRICTS, SCHOOLS, AND CLASSROOMS. Alexandria, VA: ASCD and McREl.

Marzano, Robert J., and John S. Kendall. CONTENT KNOWLEDGE: A COMPENDIUM OF STANDARDS AND BENCHMARKS FOR K-12 EDUCATION. Alexandria, VA: McREl, but available from the ASCD.

Mitchell, Ruth, Marilyn Willis, Marilyn Crawford, and the Chicago Teacher's Union Quest Center. LEARNING IN OVERDRIVE: DESIGNING CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT FROM STANDARDS. A MANUAL FOR TEACHERS. Golden, CO: North America Press, and Washington, DC: The Education Trust, 1997.

National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE). NEW STANDARDS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS, ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, AND HIGH SCHOOL. Washington, DC: NCEE, 1997.

National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE). READING AND WRITING GRADE BY GRADE: PRIMARY LITERACY STANDARDS FOR KINDERGARTEN THROUGH THIRD GRADE. Washington, DC: NCEE, 1999.

Newmann, Fred. M., and Gary G. Wehlage. SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL RESTRUCTURING. A REPORT TO THE PUBLIC AND EDUCATORS by THE CENTER ON ORGANIZATION AND RESTRUCTURING OF SCHOOLS. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Center for Educational Research, 1995.

Ravitch, Diane. NATIONAL STANDARDS IN AMERICAN EDUCATION: A CITIZEN'S GUIDE. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1998.

Tucker, Marc and Judy Codding. STANDARD FOR OUR SCHOOLS: HOW TO SET THEM, MEASURE THEM, AND REACH THEM. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 1998.

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