Reflection or Refraction of Standards

There is nothing more daunting to a first year teacher than the question; "What exactly am I suppose to be teaching?" The questions have only become more of a sticking point with the introduction of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), criteria set by the United States government, and the required SOL, Standards of Learning, the criteria set by the state of Virginia. To go one step further, the individual cities within Virginia have developed more precise standards, as Hampton has. As intimidating as these standards are, there needs to be guidelines set as to what our students need to be taught and that they receive the best education possible. The SOL's are a series of documents that contain all the information that a Virginia educator needs to teach the students, but the NCLB standards set by the government are also expected to be strictly adhered to as well.

The National Standards and the Standards for the state Virginia are almost mirror images of one another; they work hand-in-hand complimenting one another. In Virginia each grade level and each core subject, Math, Science, Social Studies and Language, have been given their own curriculum guide and each is based on the national standards. Each of these core curriculum guides is broken down in same format. First, the SOL is listed by grade level and number. For instance, in the National Standards for Social Sciences, under the sub-heading of United States History for Grades K-4, Topic 2, The History of the Student's Own State or Region, Standard 3, states that the student understands "The People, Events, Problems, and Ideas that Created the History of Their State (NSS-USH, K-4.2). Virginia correlates through its' state standards to allow students a greater understanding for what makes Virginia rich in history. One example of the focus on Virginia's history is strongly noted for grade four's Virginia Studies, skills section VS.3, Colonization and Conflict: 1607 through the American Revolution. The entire Virginia Studies unit is completely dedicated to, and rich in, its skills that the student is expected to understand and absorb for the state standards and mirror the national standards.

The same holds true for the Mathematics section of the standards. For example, under the category of Number and Number Sense, Virginia Standard 3.1 The student will read and write six-digit numerals and identify the place value for each digit. This is the first objective for the third grade math student to learn. Next, Hampton City Schools takes this rather broad skill and breaks it down into more focused Objectives. The school district refers it as Essential Knowledge and Skills. This aids the teacher by giving them a specific goal to focus their lesson plan. To further assist the teacher the curriculum guide provides a section called Understanding the Standard. Here the teacher is given notes on the concrete skills the students should be able to perform. For example it states, "The flexibility in thinking about numbers-or "decomposition" of numbers (e.g. 12,345 is 123 hundreds, 4 tens, and 5 ones) is critical and supports understandings essential to multiplication and division." (HCS, 2006-2007) It is these teaching notes that really help give a clear picture to these sometimes vague and vast concepts that the teacher must get across. The teacher is then given a list of various resources that are at their disposal and related to that particular SOL. These resources range from technology based to literature books to old fashion workbooks the children can use. If that is not helpful enough the school district has also provided a series of "Alternative Teaching Strategies" to reach the student who is having difficulty grasping the concept. Finally, the curriculum guide also provides released test questions from prior SOL tests. This helps the teacher ensure that they are track with the SOL they are teaching and students will be able to apply the knowledge they have obtained to a practical test environment.

While the third grade math curriculum is very clearly spelled out for the teacher it can be a bit overwhelming at 164 pages long. At this length, instead of creating a framework for the teacher there is a risk of bogging them down with too much information to review and examine. The curriculums are very detailed and almost give the teacher list of what to teach day to day. While this can be very comforting for a first year teacher and will ensures structured lesson plans it can feel like the teacher is being removed from the teaching. It is difficult to see where the one would be able to apply some of the different teaching techniques that were learned in school.

In the initial review of Mathematics, the sense of looking into the mirror is still there, but on closer inspection of the Introduction to the Elementary Mathematics Third Grade Curriculum Guide for Hampton City Schools; it clearly states that the Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools (SOL) reflect the recommendation in the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics for School Mathematics developed by the National Councils of Teacher of Mathematics. In a quick review of the website it is apparent that Hampton City Schools clearly used these standards as the structure on which it built its own core curriculum guide for third grade math and as we find quite frequently, things once again come full circle.

As an educator, these documents are the foundation of what is taught each and every day. They are a checks and balances system of education set into place to make sure that every student receives the best possible education that can be provided to them. NCLB is the baking pan, the SOL's in Virginia are the dry ingredients, and locality documents, like Hampton's Curriculum Guides for each subject, are the liquids. Yet, the classroom educator is the oven where everything comes together for the final reward.

References:

Hampton City Schools. Department of Mathematics. (2006-2007) Elementary Mathematics Third Grade Curriculum Guide.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2006, retrieved January 31, 2007 from http://ntcm.org

UCLA, National Center for History in the Schools, 2005, retrieved January 31, 2007 from
http://nchs.ucla.edu/standards/

United States Department of Education, 2006, retrieved January 31, 2007 from http://ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml

Virginia Department of Education, retrieved January 31, 2007 from http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/