November 9, 2023 1pmLarry Ainsworth

Newly Republished on Amazon KDP: October 18, 2023

Amazon Link to Book: https://tinyurl.com/5n6esr9e

An ENDURING practice! 20 years after the original edition and still going strong! In this 20th anniversary reprint of the initial 2003 publication, Power Standards: Identifying the Standards Essential for Student Success is a practical, “how-to” manual that explains step-by-step how teams of educators can collaboratively identify and vertically align, K-12, the Power Standards.

Power Standards, known also as Priority Standards, are a prioritized subset of state standards within each grade level and content area that educators use as a foundation for developing high-quality curriculum and assessments. Other standards, not identified as priorities, are not eliminated. They serve as supporting standards to assist students in learning the more rigorous Power Standards.

Why Power Standards? All standards are not equal in importance. Many standards require more time and focus than other standards to prepare students for current and future success—in school, in life, and on high-stakes assessments. In-depth instruction of essential concepts and skills is more effective than “covering” all standards superficially. Owing to the limitations of time and the wide diversity in learning backgrounds of today’s students, educators are faced with the almost insurmountable task of trying to teach all the standards and all the indicators for their individual grade and content areas while at the same time meeting the extraordinary range of student learning needs. Prioritizing standards provides the only logical solution for addressing this challenge!

How to Prioritize?

Meeting in collaborative teams, educators use the following “tried and true” criteria to select their Power Standards:

Endurance (lasting beyond one grade or course; concepts and skills needed in life). Will proficiency of this standard provide students with the knowledge and skills that will be of lasting value?

Leverage (interdisciplinary connections: crossover application within one content area and to other content areas). Will students be able to transfer their learning and/or make connections to other topics or content areas?

Readiness for the Next Level of Learning (prerequisite concepts and skills students need to enter a new grade level or course of study). Will proficiency of this standard provide students with the essential knowledge and skills that are necessary for future success?

External Exams (concepts and skills that students are most likely to encounter on annual state tests). Will this standard be more frequently assessed than other standards on state exams?

Preview of the Content

Here’s a quick preview of the book’s content, including separate chapters for each of the following topics:

• The Rationale and Research Support for Power Standards
• How to Identify Power Standards
• Involving Everyone in the Process
• Frequently Asked Questions
• A Step-by-Step Summary for Identifying Power Standards

Also included are three school district’s narratives of how they involved all their educators in prioritizing standards along with numerous examples of their Power Standards in several content areas and grade levels.

The book’s straightforward and easy-to-read format enables teachers, coaches, and administrators to immediately apply these proven, practical strategies in their own educational setting to significantly improve achievement for all students—by first focusing on identifying and vertically aligning, K-12, Power Standards!