We have switched our documenting of ELT revision to a new website. See you there!
May 22, 2009
The New Standards – What do you think?
Have you read the draft of the new state standards yet? If not, check them out:
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/UAS/DraftStandards.html
So, what do you think? I think I’m still struggling with understanding the whole “21st Century” section – to me, it seems a little misplaced and unclear. In my search for the source of the headings listed (they’re not part of the whole “21st Century Skills” framework); so I got curious and started looking around – found that survey CDE sent out a while back, but I’m still searching . . . any help would be appreciated!
May 19, 2009
Welcome to this blog
As I am sure you know, the state has embarked on a process to revise the state standards. Information on the process can be found on the CDE website at http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/UAS/standardsreview.html Also, the drafts of the standards can be found on the CDE website at http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/UAS/DraftStandards.html CDE is coming to Brighton on May 27, 5:30 p.m., Bella Serra Events Center, 45 Strong St. to present on the standards revision. Please attend that session if you can.
In the fall of 2007, we went through a short and intense process to write ELTs. There is more information about the ELTs and the Instructional Model on the Student Achievement blog, particularly this posting: http://isobelstevenson.edublogs.org/2008/11/12/happy-birthday-elts/
We knew when we wrote them that the ELTs would need revision after teachers had had the chance to work with them for a while. What we didn’t know was when the state would decide to revise the state standards. The state’s deadline of December 09 puts us in an interesting position, because we are eager to start on the revision work, but we don’t know how close the drafts in circulation are to the final versions that will be approved in six months.
What we have decided to do is to work on language arts and math ELTs this summer. We have a good idea of what we want to see changed in these documents, we like a lot of what is in the current version, and we think we can realistically achieve revision of these subjects during the summer vacation.
We plan to document the progress we make on this work on this blog: http://27jelts.edublogs.org/ All that’s on there right now is the same information in this email, but if you go there, you can sign up for an RSS feed (on the sidebar on the right). If you want to know more about RSS, go to http://edtekzone.edublogs.org/2008/11/13/rss-really-simple-syndication-translation-your-own-personal-newspaper/ for help.
I cannot overemphasize the importance that we place on good curriculum. It defines what academic knowledge and skills our students-all our students-should have upon graduating. It is the foundation for our work on classroom formative assessment, the instructional strategies that we believe will have the greatest impact on raising student achievement and closing achievement gaps.
If you want to know more about classroom formative assessment, I suggest you check out the ATI website at http://www.assessmentinst.com/, the CTLT website at http://www.ctlt.org/index.php , and the Student Achievement blog at http://isobelstevenson.edublogs.org/
