Content Standards

  Content standards are basically a criteria outline of what students should understand and be able to actively apply throughout their educational career between Kindergarten and graduation from high school.  While many states have adopted content standards in all subjects taught, all states have adopted content standards in the core academic subjects such as Language Arts and Mathematics. In fact, the push for states to adopt one core set of standards across the country has been led at a state level by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and The Council for Chief State School Officers. All but eight states in the mainland United States have adopted this uniform set of standards. The push has not been for a uniform curriculum but only for uniform standards. With this system students can move anywhere in the United States and still be expected to know the same criteria to be successful graduates. Since the panel that designed the standards was informed in large part by countries around the world, this also ensures that graduates from United States high schools will be ready to compete on a global scale for education and careers.

  Benchmarks are more specific than content standards. Benchmarks break down a particular standard into measurable, manageable components. For instance, the state standard may require that students explore geometry but a measurable benchmark would be that in using geometry the students can demonstrate their understanding through the use of positional vocabulary. 

  Content standards and benchmarks are used in a number of ways. Teachers can use them to measure whether or not their students are learning what they should be to be successful at their grade level and in the grades ahead. The point is not for them to memorize rote facts but for the students to be able to build upon their working knowledge of the subjects areas as they progress through their K-12 educational career.  Teachers should be able to look at the grade the students were in the years prior to ascertain what they should already know and whether they actually know it and look ahead to see what needs to be taught before it is built upon in the coming years. Students, especially in older grade levels, use benchmarks as a way of measuring their own progress. When the outline is clear for what should be achieved by when, the chance for success is increased exponentially.  In addition to this, parents can use the benchmarks as a way to supplement their children’s school work at home. As a parent, I don’t want to find out at the end of the year that my child should have learned something but struggled when I could have researched it ahead of time and helped at home. Also, when parents empower themselves with the knowledge of what their children should be learning they are better able to ask the important questions during conferences with their children’s teachers. When teachers are not forced to start from scratch with every question but instead are able to build upon the parents’ understanding of what their children are being taught they are better able to find working solutions to the students issues in class. I stumbled upon a couple of websites that I (surprisingly) found really interesting:
http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?Page=3&TopicRelationID=1696&Content=88482

http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards