Standard Based Instructional Practices

Content standards are of abundant significance. Without standards, states, school districts, and schools would not have any goals to conquer by the time of advancement to the next level in education. By corresponding standards within each grade level and subject area, all will know what instruction students should be receiving, what areas students should be educated on, and what areas they will be tested on.

Since the early 2000 and the No Child Left Behind Act, the introduction of the standards-based education in the public school system came to light, and recently the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has brought on another challenge along with controversies. Some critics view it as the “same old wine in a new bottle” (McTighe and Wiggins, 2012, p. 1) but it does provide some merits and require a positive new approach instead of the old habit of “zeroing in on the grade-level standards before a careful examination of the goals and structure of the overall documents” (p. 1). Another concern is the role of the Standards. “Standards are not curriculum. A Standard is an outcome, not a claim about how to achieve an outcome” (McTighe & Wiggins,

However, as through as this theory may seem, there are still some who are skeptic of the learning style notion. In the article "Let Go of 'Learning Styles' Myth,” it states “Teachers are well meaning, but buying into the "learning styles" myth has not been definitively shown to improve educational outcomes. So let it die already.” Researchers and educators alike who do not accept this theory agree that students should learn to understand material regardless of their learning style, in order to strive in the competitive world. Even though this ideology makes sense, the outcomes of using our outdated methods have unfortunately been distraught. Students deserve to be successful in their education without having tests determining how smart they

Teachers are given sets of materials that need to be taught for students to understand the Common Core Standards. The standards are informed to improve the learning style in school and teaching. If the standards make new standards then they need to go appropriately with the students’ assessment and go hand and hand with the curriculum and be shaped by the teachers who connect students to their own dreams. Using these standards make us wonder what we think of students and what they are capable of doing. The curriculum gives ideas on how the specific standards are taught. When using assessments it gives the students a chance to understand the standards and if they can master them. The Common Core standards have a specific process and must go into a particular order to work correctly.

Education standards outline expectations for what students should know student at the close of a course, or grade level. States have been setting standards since the early 1980’s. By 2001, after the No Child Left Behind Act was passed, all 50 states began adopting standards. The push to adopt standards-based education was the idea that student achievement could be increased by setting specific goals and that all students deserved the chance to learn skills to be successful citizens and viable employees. Each state was responsible for creating its own list of standards. This process would soon change with the implementation of the Common Core State Standard initiative.

There are four types of learning styles: visual, aural, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. ("Study Strategies by Learning Styles."). I personally have a somewhat higher preference for an aural learning style and a much lower preference for visual learning, leaving reading/writing and kinesthetic both equally in the middle.

Students' Learning StylesLearning is a complex process of acquiring knowledge or skills involving a learner's biological characteristics/senses (physiological dimension); personality characteristics such as attention, emotion, motivation, and curiosity (affective dimension); information processing styles such as logical analysis or gut feelings (cognitive dimension); and psychological/individual differences (psychological dimension) (Dunn, Beaudry, & Klavas, 1989). Due to the multiples dimensions of differences in each learner, there have been continuing research interests in learning styles. Some 21 models of learning styles are cited in the literature (Curry, 1983) including the Kolb learning preference model (Kolb, 1984), Gardner's

Learning styles exist and that they are different for each one of us. They are part of our personalities and the way we were created to process, retain, and learn information. While it is important to understand what helps us to learn effectively and how best we retain and apply new information, it is equally important to understand that our learning styles should be well-balanced to be truly successful.

Howard Gardner developed a theory in the early 1980’s that each person has a range of talents or intelligences. He identifies eight intelligences that include verbal/linguistic, mathematical/logical, musical/rhythmic, visual/spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, naturalistic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Teachers can use this theory to differentiate the learning experiences for their students by choosing activities to match the different intelligences within their classroom.

Everyone has different types of studying styles but there are only 3 useful learning styles. They are visual, auditory and tactile. One way to know if a person prefers a visual learning style is through studying the learning material with graphs, charts, maps, notes, and flashcards. They are usually picturing words or ideas in their head. Another way to know if a person prefers a auditory learning style is through using tapes as a useful source for notes and they talk to other classmates to review the lesson.

When properly implemented, the differentiated instruction theory helps teachers design learning experiences that provide students with access to grade level standards through use of a multi-sensory approach. This multi-sensory approach will help students take ownership of their learning by enabling them (students) to facilitate their own learning. Engaging students in this type of learning will also allow teachers to have more individual, meaningful interactions with students. These individual interactions will provide teachers with opportunities to assess individual student growth and mastery of grade level

What is a learning style? Well a learning style is the way a person tends to learn best. It involves your preferred method of taking in, organizing, and making sense of information, Lake Washington Institute of Technology (2012). Some people prefer to learn by doing and touching, others prefer to learn by seeing, or by hearing the information. Still others learn using more than one learning style. If a person was interested in finding out what their particular learning style is would be to take the VARK questionnaire for learning styles. The most common learning style is the multimodal, but the learner

Having a set of standards nationwide provides an easier life for students who are adjusting to a new school when they are moving from one state to another. The practice of using a set curriculum helps assure that a more advanced level of learning is reached and it also guides teachers in the direction of success. In order to achieve success teachers must develop an assessment to track the learner 's performance and plan lessons to help assist the student to meet the specific standards that are expected of them. The purpose of a curriculum is to provide students with knowledge, skills, and values to be successful in the future. Set curriculum helps students that are in high school become more prepared for their futures in college. For example, when a student follows a set curriculum it teaches them how to follow instructions and requirements to get them where they are suppose to be. It also teaches a student how to be independent. For instance, if a student does not follow a set curriculum they will be at a disadvantage of being lost and confused as opposed to a student that is taught off a set curriculum.

Every student has their own story, set of experiences, and abilities. Overtime, teachers have quickly realized that they cannot reach all students with a-one-size-fits-all approach to instruction. Therefore, the goal of a “differentiated classroom” is to maximize growth and individual success of each student by providing different avenues for the students to learn the content, to process the information and ideas, and to create a final product. Differentiating instruction needs to be a daily component of my planning and teaching. Some of students need to be challenged with opportunities to expand their mind with advanced learning activities. Other students need extra scaffolding and support in order to understand the basic concepts of the course. Differentiation can be an extremely effective instruction strategy for teachers as they work to meet the needs of English Language Learners.

Possibly the single most popular approach to the standards is curriculum alignment. Most school districts have worked hard to align the cope and sequence of the curriculum with the scope and sequence of the topics in state standards. Clearly, the teachers need to cover the topics included in the standards, but this task alone is not enough. There is a distinct difference between alignment with the topics of the standards and achievement of the expectations included in the standards. Standards were written to raise