Action Overview: A Standards-based Education System

Action: Stakeholders examine the standards-based education system.

This set of resources is designed to help organizations develop a shared understanding of the conditions needed to support the implementation of a standards-based system through the examination of the components of the system.

Introduction

This strategy has established that a standards-based system is essential in order to promote educational equity across all parts of the organization.  The term standards-based has intentionally been utilized. Standard-based is often used interchangeably with standards-referenced but comparing these terms helps to define standards-based. Great Schools Partnership states “In brief, standards-referenced means that what gets taught or tested is “referenced” to or derived from learning standards (i.e., standards are the source of the content and skills taught to students—the original “reference” for the lesson), while standards-based refers to the practice of making sure students learn what they were taught and actually achieve the expected standards (i.e., that students meet a defined standard for “proficiency”). In a standards-referenced system, teaching and testing are guided by standards; in a standards-based system, teachers work to ensure that students actually learn the expected material as they progress in their education.”

These resources are designed to help educators examine the components of a standards-based education system and consider how the components support equity and innovation in their sites. Throughout the Portal, teams will revisit these components at a deeper level.

Academic standards are at the root of a standards-based education system as they provide the foundation for career and college readiness. However, it is important that a standards-based education system considers components beyond the academic standards.

What are the components of a standards-based education system?

This Portal identifies components of a standards-based education system.  They are informed by the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL, 2016), the Colorado Coalition for Standards-Based Education (2012), and the work of Fred Newman (1996, 2000). The components that have been identified include:

These components work together to support sustained goals of improving instructional practices to increase career and college readiness for all students.

Suggested Activity

How do educators explore the components of a standards-based education system?

The activity Moving to a Standards-based Education System provides opportunities for leadership teams to develop shared understanding of the conditions of a standards-based education system (SBE) through investigating the components of the system. As a team, reflect upon the ten components and consider to what extent the system is currently a SBE. As a team, reflect upon the questions. This will serve as a conversation starter for future work in the Portal.

Related Content

For more information about the components in the Portal, visit the User Guide

Back to Academic Standards.

Great Schools Partnership, The Glossary of Education Reform, https://www.edglossary.org/standards-based, retrieved August 19, 2019.