A Compact for Learning: An Action Handbook for Family-School-Community Partnerships

Chapter 1: Getting Started

"It is not enough to have high expectations or set challenging standards. We must put standards of excellence into action in the classroom."
Richard W. Riley
U.S. Secretary of Education

The world is changing rapidly. More and more jobs require education beyond high school. More and more jobs require an ability to use technology. To be successful in the workplace and in life, students must develop the ability to learn new skills and to adapt to new situations. Academic standards reflect these new demands. Standards are written statements that say what a child is supposed to do and learn at each grade level and how the child should demonstrate that learning. All across the country, schools, school districts, and states are setting high academic standards and high expectations for all students so that they can be successful in school and in life.

High academic standards and high expectations

It is important to understand how academic standards and the compact work together to improve student learning and increase student achievement. The new Title I legislation introduces substantial changes to strengthen learning in a schoolwide program. A central focus of the new law is its emphasis on teaching and learning to high standards set by states and local schools. The standards are a guideline for teaching and learning. Remediation through completing worksheets and through drill and practice is not enough: students must be able to apply what they learn to the world around them.

Results from recent international comparisons of students' achievement in math and science and student success on college entrance tests (SATs and ACTs) show that taking rigorous courses is a strong predictor of high achievement. Setting high standards is the first step to both rigorous course work and high achievement. Consider your standards as you develop a compact. Standards help parents answer questions such as: "What is it that my child should know?" and "Is my child learning?"

Challenging standards:

Give teachers and parents the common language that they need to be an effective team;
Make sure everyone knows exactly what children are expected to learn; and
Help the team of teachers, students, and families work toward the same goals.

When the goals are clear, teachers can apply the most effective teaching strategies, and parents can continue the learning at home in simple and enjoyable ways. Standards provide a measure of performance that assesses student work against what all students should know and be able to do instead of comparing students to one another. For some students, it may take more time, extra help, and greater effort, yet every student can successfully learn and achieve to higher academic standards.

Content standards

Content standards establish learning priorities by grade level. Standards ensure that the basic concepts and skills being taught in one class will be the same ones being taught in another class across town. They need not be taught by the same methods or by using the same topics. For example, Miss Garcia may ask her fourth-grade class to observe and describe the physical characteristics of the local neighborhood using charts organized by physical features (trees, hills, roads, and the like). Mr. Parsons might ask his class to break up into small groups and construct physical models of the neighborhood. Both teachers are teaching the essential elements of geography.

When the children are tested, both classes need to be able to meet the standard, found in their geography test, of being able to describe the physical characteristics of locales (terrain, climate, weather, and so forth) even though the classes learned this information in different ways.

The following example is a selection of the content standards for third-grade language arts used at Signal Hill Elementary School in Long Beach, California.

A fluent third-grade reader:

Increases vocabulary by understanding concepts such as synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms.
Recognizes root words, prefixes, and suffixes.
Demonstrates literal comprehension by recalling details and sequencing events.
Identifies the main idea, recognizes cause/effect relationships, makes inferences and predictions from reading selections, and draws conclusions from the overall meaning of a selection.

Performance standards

Performance standards allow us to evaluate student work against what students should be learning as identified by parents, citizens, and educators in their states and communities. Consistent standards allow Miss Garcia's and Mr. Parsons' fourth-grade students to be judged against the same set of rules--the same set of standards of what students are expected to know. If children in both classes correctly answer 18 out of 20 questions on their test, both teachers agree that their students have mastered the material.

Once families, teachers, and students understand what students are expected to learn, it is important to assess how well students are meeting the content standards. Kentucky has developed the following performance levels to help teachers and families monitor, assist, and encourage student progress towards higher academic standards.

Distinguished

The student completes all important components of the task and communicates ideas clearly.
The student demonstrates an in-depth understanding of the relevant concepts and/or process.
Where appropriate, the student offers insightful interpretations or extensions (generalizations, applications, and analogies).

Proficient

The student completes most important components of the task and communicates clearly.
The student demonstrates understanding of major concepts even though he/she overlooks or misunderstands some less important ideas or details.

Apprentice

The student completes some important components of the task and communicates those clearly.
The student demonstrates that there are gaps in his/her conceptual understanding.

Novice

The student shows minimal understanding.
The student is unable to generate strategy. Answers may display only recall effect, lack clear communication and/or be totally incorrect or irrelevant.

National Checkpoints of Progress

Many state academic standards are based on current research, which connects these standards to national measures of success. A new American consensus on education has developed about what is needed to prepare our young people for the coming times. Widely accepted and used among national policymakers and practitioners, the following checkpoints of student progress stem from research that identifies certain points of student growth to be particularly critical transition periods.

Every child in America is reading well and independently by the end of third grade. If children are not able to read independently by the end of the third grade, their ability to succeed in school is in jeopardy. Research shows that it is hard to catch up, and that falling be hind in early reading is a strong predictor of dropping out of school. In America, 40 percent of fourth-graders do not meet basic levels for reading achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Every child in America is competent in math, including algebra at the eighth grade. American eighth-graders scored above the international average in science and below the international average in math on the Third International Assessment of Math and Science. Because of this test, we now know what it takes to be competitive both nationally and internationally in math and science by the eighth grade. Competency in algebra and in science at the eighth grade is pivotal because of the "gate keeper" action of the courses: if students learn the math and science material early, they will be ready to take the sequence of courses in high school that prepares them for college and for careers.

Every 18-year-old in America is prepared academically and financially for college. Over half of the new jobs created in the past three years are managerial and professional jobs requiring higher-level skills. Students must be prepared academically to take advantage of these career options. They need to take rigorous academic classes, and they need access to Advanced Placement and Tech-Prep courses. Advanced Placement courses and tests reflect national standards of excellence across America that help high school students prepare to enter and succeed in college.

Taking stock of standards

The Education Excellence Partnership² is a group of major organizations that have teamed up to promote high academic standards and high expectations for all students. Together, they have developed the following set of questions related to academic standards at the local school level. These questions reflect the kind of information the school, its students and their families, and the community at large need to help all children achieve. If your compact is working well, each of your partners-- parents, teachers, principals, concerned community members, and others--should be able to answer these questions or to know how to access the information easily. Think about how the compact will help you provide answers to these and other questions you have about your school.

1. What skills and knowledge will the students be expected to master this year?

What are students expected to learn this year in key subjects like math, science, history, and English?
Are there challenging academic standards in place at this school, and how do they compare with those in other school districts?
How do teachers inform students about the academic standards they're expected to meet?
What kinds of projects and assignments are in place to help students meet higher academic standards?

2. How will students be evaluated?

What kind of information do teachers use to evaluate students' learning and the extent to which students are academically ready to move on to the next grade?
How are grades determined in the classroom?
Will students be able to take new national tests in fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math when they become available in 1999?

3. What can families do to stay more involved in their children's academic progress?

What can families do at home to complement what is happening in the classroom?
How can families know on a daily basis what homework has been assigned?
How can families support teachers' efforts in implementing higher academic standards.

4. How does the school accommodate differences in learning?

What if a student is a slow learner and falls behind, or is a fast learner and is bored?
Are summer school, tutoring, or other programs available for students who need more help?

5. How are students prepared for further learning after high school?

What learning opportunities exist outside the classroom to make learning more relevant to what happens in the real world?
Are children encouraged to think about a wide variety of career interests?
Are all students encouraged to take algebra by the end of eighth grade?

² The Education Excellence Partnership comprises the Business Roundtable, U.S. Department of Education, American Federation of Teachers, National Alliance of Business, National Education Association, National Governors' Association, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The questions are adapted from Strengthening your child's future, a booklet for parents about academic standards (1997). For a copy, call 1-800-382-3762.

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