Standards+Question+5


 * Read the Case Study regarding Quality Teaching on page 33 of the NSDC Standards text handed out in class. In your PLC discuss Discussion Questions 1-5. Have a record keeper in your group synthesize your group's responses to these questions. If your group needed more information, describe what you need to know and how you would go about discovering this information.**

1. Why is it important that curriculum, instruction, and assessment are tied together in a single standard? It is important to get to the end result based on the curriculum that has to be met through instructions which can be assessed through rubrics or other assessment tools. In ther oles as instructional leaders, district and school administrators make teacher content knowledge and skills related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment high priorities. They do so by designing teachers' work days to include ongoing professional learning and collaboration and by providing teachers with data to assist with formative classroom assessment.

2. When is it appropriate for educators to study curriculum, instruction, or assessment issues in isolation? They may serve summer internships in appropriate organizations, attend extended institutes with follow-up activities throughout the school year, take traditional university or electronically delivered coursework, perform the activities of individuals involved in that field, (i.e. conduct historical research), or participate in face-to-face or electronic subject area networks.

3. How can technology be used to assist with implementation of this standard? They can use technology to increase teacher productivity. Teachers need to experience, FIRST HAND, as learners, the instructional approaches they in turn will be teaching to students. Having knowledge of the various programs within technology and how they can tie to the instructional process is important. It is hard to teach what you do not know. Allowing teachers time to be great students will lead to great teachers.

4. How can team meetings be restructured to focus on this standard? The focus of team meetings should be on student work and what teachers can do to help promote deeper understanding and communication among students. This will lead to collaborative work not only among students but also students with teachers to meet the diverse need of the student population in their goal of mastery of the standards. Discussion in team meetings should address how certain centers or teaching points in the classroom are supporting the standards. 5. How can staff development be restructured to focus on this standard? Collaborative and vertical alignment and use of a common vocabulary and dialog across grade levels will provide consistency as students move from grade to grade. Realigning the focus of staff development to include the creation of common formative and summative assessments.