Group items tagged

teachers collaboratively prioritize their standards

requires teachers to look at the standards vertically. This vertical alignment allows teachers to identify important prerequisite skills students need

higher quality assessments

aligned, purposeful, and essential in identifying those students in need of intervention, remediation, or enrichment.

narrowing the focus

It is far easier for teachers to go in depth when they have fewer priority standards

deepening students’ understanding of essential content, strategies, and skills

debate and discuss the significance of the standards they teach

easier for teachers to choose high quality resources

teachers have clarity around what is essential to teach

We call these prioritized standards “power standards.”

distinguishes the standards that are essential for student success

“those standards that, once mastered, give a student the ability to use reasoning and thinking skills to learn and understand other curriculum objectives.”

support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

learning that is essential for success

goes beyond one course or grade level

important in life

students will need to read informational texts proficiently and substantiate their claims using evidence from the text when reading, writing, and speaking

multidisciplinary connections

relevant in other disciplines

learning that is applied both within the content area and in other content areas

standard represents learning that is essential for success

Does this standard contain prerequisite content

think of a triple Venn Diagram, and that for the overall success of students each circle in that Venn Diagram has equal importance

skills necessary for the next

power standards are those that teachers will spend most of their instructional time teaching

focus of teacher assessments

If every teacher in the grade level or course is emphasizing something different, you do not have a guaranteed curriculum for students.

Not all standards are equally important at every grade level or in every course

work collaboratively in vertical teams

. History in schools, they argue

without providing any connecting narrative thread that explains their relationship with each other. The solution is a return to narrative history, to a big story that will organise and make sense of historical experience.

Nonetheless, it remains an announcement that tells us more about the contradictions of government thinking and its reductive view of the humanities and social sciences than it does about the state of history teaching in our schools.

I agree with Schama that the real public value of history-teaching in schools (as in universities) lies in its capacity to re-animate our civil society and produce an engaged and capable citizenry. I disagree that good story-telling will get you there

History provides us with a set of analytical skills that are indispensable for citizens who want to understand our present conditions

We want students who aren't just entertained, but who can think critically and effectively about the world they live in.

For the creative and innovative teacher it may have been something of a constraint, but most now agree it led to a ‘golden age’ of history teaching in primary schools in the 1990s and ensured every child covered a coherent history syllabus from 11-14 without repeating topics. It also spawned a generation of excellent and accessible teaching materials and encouraged heritage organisations to provide for a standard history curriculum

Regardless this return to grand narrative and national myth goes against the very progress we as academic historians have made. History is more to do with how we think and evaluate things, the tools we use to come to conclusions than about dates and conveniently accessible stories self legitimatising the status quo.

In middle and high school, that's where the loss of instruction time comes.

has to be an engaged study of the past.

[National History Day] is not just for gifted and talented students; this is a program that does extremely well with kids in the lower quartile.

riginal research, you have an opportunity to form your own opinion on a topic. You're looking at original material. They do have to read secondary material so that they can have context. Have you talked to any teachers about how they're discussing the killing of Osama bin Laden with students? What should teachers be saying to their students? What's the importance of recent history in history class? I haven't had the chance to talk to any teachers since [last] Sunday. But I can tell you that what I hope they're doing is helping young people put this in perspective. I hope they're helping students understand the history of terror and understand why 9/11 happened in the first place. You have to understand the history of the Middle East and the history of the United States' role there, so you can draw some meaning and understanding. Using the word understanding doesn't mean condoning; it just means you need to understand why it may have happened. See how your school stacks up in our rankings of Best High Schools. Have something of interest to share? Send your news to us at highschoolnotes@usnews.com. More High School Notes posts Reader Comments Add Comment Start the discussion! Be the first to comment on this story. var RecaptchaOptions = { theme : 'clean' }; Add Your Thoughts Title Comment 3000 characters left About You Name Email State - state - AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY International Please enter the two words below into the text field underneath the image. Recaptcha.widget = Recaptcha.$("recaptcha_widget_div"); Recaptcha.challenge_callback(); Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our