The StandardsWork Criteria for JudgingStandards

1. Standards define measurable academic content knowledge and skills.

Indicators:

a. standards focus on the results of learning rather than the process of learning (e.g. words such as investigate, explore,or increasing knowledge).

b. learning grade level to grade level (or benchmark level to benchmark level) is well differentiated and are not mere repetitions of one another.

c. standards are defined with sufficient precision to make assessment possible.

d. standards are tied to important content and do not speak of generic skills (e.g., thinking critically and creatively and using a variety of complex reasoning processes to solve problems) in the abstract.

2. Standards reflect academically rigorous contentnecessary for students to be comparable to the best in the world.

Indicators:

a. standards reflect what the"best" students in the United States are learning today, traditionally reserved for the top 20 percent of the nation's student population.

b. standards reflect international demands.

c. standards include key high-level academic content and skills identified as essential for literacy; they cover the breadth and depth of the disciplineas defined by the anchor standards (noted below) and established research in the field.

d. standards ask students to demonstrate higher order skills and explicitly identify information and skills intended for students seeking advanced study.

e. standards strike a balance between skills and conceptual understanding.

3. Standards are useful, developing what isneeded for employment and citizenship.

Indicators:

a. standards serve a practical purpose and demonstrate practical application of academic material.

b. standards reflect a rigorous liberal arts education and focus on core disciplines within a content area such as biology, chemistry, physics and the earth sciences in science.

4. Standards specify a common academic corefor all students.

Indicators:

a. standards advance a core curriculum for students headed for college and the work world.

b. standards avoid separate content standards for different achievers.

c. standards that are organized by course in high school define explicitly what courses all students are expected to take.

5. Standards are clearly written and intelligibleto teachers, parents, students, and the general public.

Indicators:

a. standards are laid out in a logical, accessible format.

b. standards are jargon-free and keep technical language to a minimum.

c. standards provide enough contextual detail to provide non-technical readerswith a strong sense of what students are expected to do.

6. Standards are specific without dictatinghow they should be taught.

Indicators:

a. standards are exact enough to guide teachers and curriculum and assessment developers in their work.

b. standards are precise enough to assure that students move with ease from district to district and school to school without having to play catch-up.

7. Standards represent a solid progressionof skills and concepts.

Indicators:

a. standards illustrate growth (increasing intellectual difficulty) through the grades and as such demonstrate coherence and focus.

b. standards set a proper foundation at earlier levels to prepare students properly for more rigorous study at later levels.

8. Standards are absent red flags and flashpoints.

Indicators:

a. standards focus on academics and avoid references to personal behavioral standards or skills.

b. standards avoid moral or social dogma.

c. standards do not include words likely to inflame the public.

9. Standards are part of a larger implementationplan.

(Improved student learning depends on more than standards, however impressive or rigorous.)