Science, Weather Example

The standard on the right for the subject of weather at the 8th grade level leaves significant decisions for the teacher to make regarding specific content to be taught in the course. As in the other examples, the teacher must infer what to teach by allocating a block of class time to this standard, examine text books to see what content is traditionally covered for this broad topic area, and research testing materials including released items for specific content identification.

Science topics tend to have enormous scope and examining standards for science reveals little difference between grades. So how do teachers decide what to teach? How can a teacher possibly know exactly what to teach based on a standard like the example? The simple answer is they can’t. They can come close because science has been taught long before standards existed and there are many good references that offer grade appropriate content. 

The problem is alignment. The course will not really be aligned with the standard except that the topic areas fall under the major hierarchical heading of the standard. But will the content that was envisioned by the standard writer be the same as the content defined by the teacher and the assessment writer?

The system only works because teaching has understandings of traditional topics and the persons working on standards, curriculum and assessments share some common understanding and use similar references. It is not because the curriculum is aligned to the standards.

Detail Example Pages

• Math Example, Algebra I

• Social Studies Example

• Science Example, Astronomy

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