CEA collaborates on new guide for standards-based education

The Standards-based Teaching/Learning Cycle is a new project of CEA, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE), Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE), the Tointon Institute for Educational Change, and Focused Leadership Solutions (FLS). The project has created a guide for educators intended to help them create a common vision of implementing standards-based education. The guide describes the critical elements that are fundamental to ensuring that teachers educate every child to high standards.

Linda Barker, CEA Director of Teaching and Learning, said, "Even though Colorado has been a standards-based state since 1993, educators continue to express concerns about exactly what a standards-based system means - and what such a system and its instructional practices should look like in classrooms for both teachers and students. This new guide provides a clear, concise framework that unifies standards-based elements for teachers, principals, and school board members."

After collaborating for nearly a year, the group commissioned a document that would clearly and simply articulate what it means to be "standards-based." The guide was produced with a grant from the CDE Federal Programs and School Support Units. The first in a series of tools that will guide educators toward a greater understanding and more effective implementation of standards-based practices, the guide will be distributed to school districts. It is available right now to download.