Understanding the Grade Level Standards
Definition: Understanding Grade Level Standards
Concise, written descriptions of what students are expected to know and be able to do at specific stages of their education. Learning standards describe educational objectives – i.e., what students should have learned by the end of a course, grade level, or grade span – but they do not describe any particular teaching practice, curriculum, or assessment method.
Contributing factors to SWD performance gaps
Learning standards are seen as a way to increase equity and fairness within an educational system. There is strong evidence that students with disabilities, as well as those of color or lower-income households, were held to a lower academic expectation, or enrolled in lower-level courses more frequently and consistently than their peers. This cycle breeds risk factors causing an increased gap in performance over time, never catching up with their peers academically, nor earning collegiate degrees at the same rate, or achieving the same social, professional, or economic status. Learning standards, because they are applied to all students, are seen by many as a way to ensure every student is held to the same expectations, and given the same quality education.
Example Action Step
Understanding grade level standards is foundational to ensuring students with disabilities receive equitable instruction. Schools and districts can offer examples of success from classrooms where standards are present within all tiers of instruction. A PLC [Professional Learning Community] focus can incorporate the instructional shifts of the standards within their current structure.
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