* This information has been adapted from the Ohio ABLE Standards Implementation Portfolio – Summer 2003.  For the full document, please see the resources section.

INTRODUCTION TO ABLE’S REVISED STANDARDS

To ensure continuous improvement Ohio ABLE adopted the national Equipped for the Future (EFF) content standards for math, reading, and writing in February 2001. Following the adoption of the EFF standards, task forces of ABLE practitioners with expertise in the three content areas developed and validated Ohio’s revised standards for math, reading, and writing. Ohio’s revised standards replaced the original standards and competencies (listed on the Documentation Logs) beginning July 1, 2003. This document presents Ohio’s revised standards for math, reading, and writing.

The purpose of this document is to introduce and clarify Ohio’s revised standards for math, reading, and writing. This guide will

•           explain the standards revision process and

•           present the revised standards.

 

What Are Standards?

Standards are broad statements of what students should know and be able to do. They define the content and process used to make decisions about planning, teaching, and assessing.

STUDENTS

Students should be at the center of the planning, teaching, and assessing cycle. For example:     

·        Planning: Students are integral in developing the Individual Learning Plan.
·        Teaching: In collaboration students and teachers develop activities that are grounded in what students already know using materials such as newspapers or magazines that are familiar to students.
·        Assessing: Students evaluate their own progress toward goals and collaborate with the teacher on the selection of evidence for the portfolio.

 

INTRODUCTION TO ABLE’S REVISED STANDARDS

Benefits of Standards

Standards:

•           Provide a common language for students, teachers, administrators, and the community to discuss and understand Adult Basic and Literacy Education.

•           Increase students’ awareness of what they need to accomplish so they can make progress.

•           Encourage student participation in learning, fostering a student-centered environment.

•           Fit within the planning-teaching-assessing cycle.

 

Why Did Ohio ABLE Adopt Standards?

The National Reporting System (NRS) allows states to measure student progress and advancement with performance assessment and standardized assessment.  To incorporate both performance and standardized assessments into its system, Ohio released the Uniform Portfolio System (UPS) in July 2000.  Ohio’s standards are a vital part of the UPS and set the stage for the alignment of assessments, curriculum, and instruction.  They also help to accomplish goals established in the ODE-ABLE Strategic Plan (i.e., Define and raise expectations of what ABLE students should know and be able to do.).

Why Were The Standards Revised?

To ensure continuous improvement, the Ohio ABLE standards were revised to:

•           Reflect the content and process of math, reading, writing;

•           Integrate the national EFF math, reading, and writing standards into the UPS;

•           Update the content of the standards by building and extending concepts across educational functioning levels;

•           Reflect feedback for needed improvement to the original standards and competencies;

•           Further support the planning-teaching-assessing cycle; and 

•           Prepare for validation studies of the standards. 

 

The math, reading, and writing standards were revised through a process of input, evaluation, and synthesis.

ABLE practitioners with content area and teaching expertise revised the standards by:

 

Input

•           Creating benchmark statements to support the standards

•           Collecting and incorporating state, national, and international standards resources, as needed

 

Evaluation

•           Reviewing multiple drafts during revision process

Synthesis

•           Revising draft documents based on evaluation of the benchmarks 

How Do ABLE Programs Use Standards?

The following statements guided the revision process and are important to keep in mind as ABLE programs and practitioners transition to the revised math, reading, and writing standards:

Standards…

•           Are crucial to defining student success in Ohio’s Student Experience Model;

•           Focus student and teacher use of Ohio’s Uniform Portfolio System;

•           Enrich the ABLE classroom as a student-centered environment; and

•           Guide planning, teaching, and assessing.

 

How To Use The Standards Document

To understand the revised math, reading, and writing standards it is important to be aware of the structure of the standards and terms used to describe elements of the standards.

Each of the three standards (i.e., math, reading, and writing) is organized as follows:

The following benchmarks are statements that every Ohio ABLE student will demonstrate the ability to do in order to advance to the next NRS Educational Functioning Level.

BENCHMARKS:

By the end of Level 3, every Ohio ABLE student will know and be able to:

1.                    2.3.1        Identify prior knowledge about topic.

2.                    2.3.2        Select purpose (e.g., to be informed, to be entertained, to interpret, to solve problems) to focus reading.

3.                    2.3.3        Use knowledge of word parts (e.g., word families, prefixes, suffixes, root/base words, compounds, contractions, abbreviations, symbols, acronyms) to read.

4.                    2.3.4        Use word relationships (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, multiple meaning words, connotation, denotation, idioms) to read.

5.                    2.3.5        Use context clues (e.g., sentence and paragraph structure, definition, restatement, example) to comprehend text.

6.                    2.3.6        Use comprehension strategies (e.g., summarizing, predicting).

7.                    2.3.7        Use fix-up strategies (e.g., look back or read on, identify word errors, alter reading rate) when lack of understanding occurs.

8.                    2.3.8        Identify the unstated main idea and supporting details of the text.

9.                    2.3.9        Draw conclusions based on the information in the text (e.g., fact vs. opinion).

                               

10.           2.3.10      Connect new information with prior knowledge to address reading purpose.

The Components of Performance are a series of statements that collectively define each standard “in practice.” They describe the steps or process of the content area. 

Benchmarks describe expected performance at a particular place on the NRS Educational Functioning Level continuum.

•           Benchmarks provide “seeing” and “documenting” for standards:  before, during, after instruction.

•           Benchmark statements are provided for each content area (i.e., math, reading, and writing) within the six educational functioning levels of NRS.

 

Numbering of Benchmarks

Each benchmark has a unique three-digit number.

•           The first number indicates the content area (i.e., math = 1, reading = 2, and writing = 3). The numbers match to the content areas in alphabetical order.

•           The second number indicates the NRS level.

•           The third number indicates the benchmark number.

 

DEFINITIONS

Academic Standards – clearly defined statements and/or illustrations of what all students, teachers, schools, and school districts are expected to know and be able to do. Educators generally discuss three types of standards -Content Standards, Performance Standards, and Operating Standards.

Content Standards – describe the knowledge and skills that students should attain - often called the "what" of "what students should know and be able to do." They indicate the ways of thinking, working, communicating, reasoning, and investigating the important and enduring ideas, concepts, issues, dilemmas, and knowledge essential to the discipline.

Performance Standards – are concrete statements of how well students must learn what is set out in the content standards - often called the "be able to do" of "what students should know and be able to do." Performance standards specify "how good is good enough." They are the indicators of quality that specify how adept or competent a student demonstration must be.

Operating Standards – describe the conditions for learning. These can include specific expectations and additional guidelines for school districts, communities, and families to use in creating the best learning conditions for meeting student needs and achieving state and local educational goals and objectives.

Benchmark – is the specific component of the knowledge or skill identified by an academic content, performance, or operational standard. It can be characterized as being declarative, procedural, or contextual in the type of knowledge it describes. Attainment is communicated through:

Performance Task – construction of a response

Performance Level – defined score point on formal assessment

 

Curriculum – is the way content is designed and delivered. It includes the structure, organization, balance, and presentation of expected or recommended study topics that address content standards and meet local expectations. A curriculum contains three primary elements: substance, purpose, and practice. Substance communicates what should be taught. It is the field of instruction.

Purpose communicates why a topic should be taught. It is the context of instruction.

Practice communicates how a topic should be taught (and learned). It is the methodology of instruction, (including the methodology of collecting and using evidence of students’ learning to inform and to adjust instruction).

Assessment Features

•           Assessment begins at the student’s initial point of contact with the ABLE program and continues throughout the student’s involvement with the program

•           It involves both formal and informal evaluation of student progress and mastery of content

•           It provides the program, the instructor, and the student with the tools they need to make good decisions or re-think previous decisions about the educational process

 

Actions for Selecting Assessments

•           Offer a variety of assessment options to ensure accommodation of varied skills, goals, and learning styles

•           Select appropriate assessments for the population being served

•           Administer assessments properly and consistently

•           Choose assessments that determine appropriate instruction for individual students

 

From OPAS Manual http://literacy.kent.edu/opas/manual02/4revised6-26-03.pdf

What Should Assessment Do?

 

·  reflect the content that all students need to know and be able to do 

·  enhance learning

·  promote equity 

·  be an open process

·  promote valid inferences about learning 

·  be a coherent process

Assessment Purposes

 

·   diagnose student strengths/needs 

·   provide feedback on student learning

·   provide a basis for student evaluation

 

In Standards-Based Education

·  Student products and performance are assessed by criteria directly linked to the standards 

·  Multiple sources of evidence are needed to document the attainment of any one standard. (i.e. Photo album vs. Snap shot)

·  A single source of evidence does not represent attainment

Adapted from Ohio Dept. of Education http://www.ode.state.oh.us/curriculum-assessment/Fall%20Regional%20Meeting/Standards_Assessment(sesionB)/frame.htm

 

                  

 

 

	Low Adult Secondary EDUCATION (Level 5)
	STANDARD: Read With Understanding
	To read with understanding, Ohio ABLE students should: ·          Determine the reading purpose. ·          Select reading strategies appropriate to the purpose. ·          Monitor comprehension and adjust reading strategies. ·          Analyze the information and reflect on its underlying meaning. ·          Integrate it (i.e., new information) with prior knowledge to address the reading purpose.
The following benchmarks are statements that every Ohio ABLE student will demonstrate the ability to do in order to advance to the next NRS Educational Functioning Level.
BENCHMARKS:
By the end of Level 5, every Ohio ABLE student will know and be able to:
2.5.1              Identify prior knowledge about topic. 2.5.2              Select purpose (e.g., to be informed, to be entertained, to interpret, to solve problems) to focus reading. 2.5.3              Use knowledge of word parts (e.g., word families, prefixes, suffixes, root/base words, compounds, contractions, abbreviations, symbols, acronyms) to read. 2.5.4              Use word relationships (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, multiple meaning words, connotation, denotation, idioms, simile, metaphor, personification) to read. 2.5.5              Use context clues (e.g., word, sentence, and paragraph structure, definition, restatement, example, comparison, contrast, cause and effect) to comprehend text. 2.5.6              Match choice of comprehension strategies to a variety of reading materials (e.g., periodicals, journals, literature). 2.5.7              Use fix-up strategies (e.g., look back or read on, identify word errors, alter reading rate) when lack of understanding occurs. 2.5.8              Identify the unstated main idea and supporting details of the text. 2.5.9              Identify figurative language (e.g., metaphor, simile, personification) in the text. 2.5.10          Draw conclusions based on elements of a narrative (e.g., setting, plot, characters, point of view). 2.5.11          Connect new information with prior knowledge to address reading purpose.

 

 

READING RUBRIC