Standards can be bewildering. Coming from national, state, and local levels, and serving different needs and interests, standards do not always share a common set of goals for learning. Resources like the Fordham Institute reports can help you sort through the strengths and weaknesses of your state’s standards. By the time standards reach the classroom, all possible efforts should be made to present students with a coherent and realistic set of expectations.

When evaluating your standards, seek advice from the wider community, including local SMT professionals and higher education. In doing so, make sure that the standards you help to set are attainable for your community and ambitious enough to responsibly prepare students for their future.

• What do national standards say?
• What do my state standards say?
• How do my state standards compare to National standards?
• How do we ensure that our district’s SMT curricula reflect good standards?

 
What do national standards say?

Science

• AAAS’s publication Benchmarks for Science Literacy lays out what all students should know and be able to do in science, mathematics, and technology. In particular, see Chapter 1 (“The Nature of Science”) and Chapters 4-7.
• The National Research Council’s science standards.

Mathematics

• Standards from AAAS’s Benchmarks of Science Literacy.  In particular, see Chapter 2 (“The Nature of Mathematics”) and Chapter 9 (“The Mathematical World”).
• An introduction to math education standards from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).
• A summarizing table of mathematics standards from NCTM.
• Free 120-day trial access to NCTM’s mathematics standards.

Technology

• Standards from AAAS’s Benchmarks of Science Literacy.  In particular, see Chapter 3 (“The Nature of Technology”) and Chapter 8 (“The Designed World”).
• Executive summary of technology standards from the International Technology Education Association (ITEA).
• A summarizing table of technology standards from ITEA.
• ITEA’s technology standards.

 What do my state's standards say?

• Science
• Math
• Technology

How do my state standards compare to national standards or other state standards?

• Science
• Math
• Technology

How do we ensure that district SMT curricula reflect good standards?

• A summary of the 2005 Fordham Insitute study of science standards that lists the most common problems with state standards.
• Rita Barger, Assistant Professor of Curriculum & Instructional Leadership at the University of Missouri, Kansas City addresses this question with respect to math education.[VIDEO]
• Jo Ellen Roseman, Director of AAAS’s Project 2061, addresses how to evaluate state standards. [VIDEO]
• Joe Villani, Executive Director of NSBA, addresses the relationship between state and local standards. [VIDEO]
• Information about an initiative sponsored by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to institute national standards for English language arts and mathematics.  
• An Op Ed in the Houston Chronicle co-authored by AAAS CEO Alan Leshner urges more states to join the national standards initiative and argues that science standards should be included along with language arts and mathematics.