Anger and resistance are big factors in how teachers approach standards, said Douglas Harris and Judy Carr in a session that echoed the title of their ASCD book Succeeding with Standards. “Many teachers feel like standards have put them in a place where they're out of control,” Harris said.
Judy Carr
However, standards do allow for teacher autonomy, Carr stressed. “I like that standards clarify the what, but leave to the teacher the important decision of how children will accomplish the identified standards” in the context of individual needs.
Each school needs to have a vision of what it wants to achieve in relation to standards and measure the progress, Harris said. “If we can achieve this vision, what will it actually look like? How will we know it when we see it?”
Douglas Harris
In terms of measuring whether students are meeting the standards, state tests are only one piece of assessment, Harris and Carr cautioned. Although state assessments are a political reality, Carr said, “if that becomes the point, we're going to miss the point.” In other words, state tests have a place, but the focus should be on student performance.
Harris advocated having a standards-based and student-centered program. “‘Student-centered’ implies some differentiation at the student level,” he said. Students need multiple opportunities to meet standards, and those opportunities should include differentiated instruction, accommodations and modifications, and opportunities for advanced learners.
“‘Standards-based’ implies that there are some common things that we agree to. And I think there should be relatively few standards,” Harris said.
When incorporating standards into the curriculum, Harris cautioned, the goal should not be “the one who has the most standards wins. It's about what is really salient.” Carr agreed: “We need to be careful not to sink the ship by trying to save everything.”