Robyn Jackson (2009) recently shared the importance of unpacking standards.  She wrote, if teachers are going to use standards to guide planning, assessments, and  teaching, we need to understand what each standard asks students to know or do (p. 58).  This article shares research on unpacking standards, provides a process for school districts to follow, and shares next steps after teachers have unpacked the standards.

Does your school district begin each year with teachers meeting to discuss and unpack the state standards or does each teacher work as an independent contractor making decisions which impact student understanding in the privacy of their own classroom?

Ainsworth (2003) wrote, “Unwrapped standards provide clarity as to what students must know and be able to do.  When teachers take the time to analyze each standard and identify its essential concepts and skills, the result is more effective instructional planning, assessment, and student learning”(p. 1).

Several school districts have attempted to align the curriculum through curriculum mapping, aligning teacher created lessons or activities, developing common formative assessments, or other strategies.  Experience has led me to believe that attempting to align the curriculum prior to unpacking state standards leads to frustration and gaps in the written curriculum.  The Benefits of Unpacking the Standards are outlined below (Weber, 2008). 
Benefits of Unpacking the Standards:

1)       Greater clarity to all K-12 teachers and administrators

2)   Improved alignment

3)   Improved continuity for students between courses and between grades

4)   Increased opportunities for curriculum integration

5)    Provides educators with a baseline or starting point for lesson planning and
       differentiated instruction

6)   Provides clarity on which skills and concepts should be taught and assessed

7)   "The Process" - Allows teachers and administrators to determine what
        matters most (i.e., pacing, assessment, Power Standards)

Ainsworth (2003) asks and then answers the following question:
                                                       
“Once your targeted standards are un[packed], what’s the next step?  It is to help students realize why these concepts and skills are important for them to learn” (p. 24).  Too often, teachers are asked to attend meetings, share ideas, and unpack standards without any follow-up or district expectations for implementation of the unpacked standards.  

                Once the state standards have been unpacked,
                          what should a teacher meeting look like?

“It starts with a group of teachers who meet regularly as a team to identify essential and valued student learning, develop common formative assessments, analyze current levels of achievement, set achievement goals, share strategies, and then create lessons to improve upon those levels” (Schmoker, 2005, p. xii).

Unpacking standards is a process which leads to improved instruction because each teacher develops a clearer understanding of what students should know and be able to do by the end of the grade or course.  Conversations about curriculum often lead to questions such as:

1)  How do you teach this skill in three days?  My students always seem to
     struggle with this skill unless I begin [frontload] the unit with this activity.

2)  Do we really want to focus on students memorizing the terms or learning
     the key concepts?  I think we should emphasize the key concepts
     because that will lead to transfer of learning and deeper understanding.

3)  Should we modify our pacing?  Our students seem to get a rushed
     overview of this era of history because we spend so much time on other
     time periods in the first nine weeks.  Test scores show that our students
     do poorly on this era and I would argue that the students are being
     tested on content and concepts that they do not fully understand.

4)  There are obvious gaps between our middle school writing instruction and
     the expectations ninth grade teachers have for rising freshman.  What
     can we do to bridge the gaps and create a smoother transition for all
     students?

Having high expectations for students is a beginning.  Working together in collaborative teams to unpack standards is a process which supports instruction and unit development.  Having regularly scheduled meetings to discuss the unpacked standards and to reflect on implementation of the written and taught curriculum is the next step in the process.  Sharing craft knowledge (Barth, 2006) and focusing on student achievement is our business.  Unpacking standards is a process which requires ongoing collaboration among teachers in a building and within a school district.  The attached document shares a process for unpacking standards.

References:

Ainsworth, L. (2003). Unwrapping the standards: A simple process to make
       standards manageable. Englewood, CO: Lead + Learn Press.

Barth, R.S. (2006). Improving relationships within the schoolhouse. Educational
        Leadership, 63(6), pp. 9-13.

Jackson, R. (2009). Never work harder than your students and other
       principles of great teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision
       and Curriculum Development.

Schmoker, M. (2005). Foreword. In DuFour, R., Eaker, R. & DuFour, R. (Eds.),
       On common ground: The power of professional learning communities
       (pp.xi-xiv). Bloomington, IN: National Education Service.

Weber, S. (2008). Benefits of unpacking the standards. Mebane, NC.

Weber, S. (2008). A process for unpacking standards. Mebane, NC.
unpacking_-_the_process.doc
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Comments

Ruth Cook
09/16/2009 13:37

Thanks, a very nice overview with clear and concise information. Ruth

Reply



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