Elementary Education Standards (1999 ed-rev. 2003) - Summary

DEVELOPMENT, LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 1. Development, Learning and Motivation--Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts, principles, theories, and research related to development of children and young adolescents to construct learning opportunities that support individual students’ development, acquisition of knowledge, and motivation.

CURRICULUM 2.1. English language arts—Candidates demonstrate a high level of competence in use of English language arts and they know, understand, and use concepts from reading, language and child development, to teach reading, writing, speaking, viewing, listening, and thinking skills and to help students successfully apply their developing skills to many different situations, materials, and ideas; 2.2. Science—Candidates know, understand, and use fundamental concepts in the subject matter of science—including physical, life, and earth and space sciences—as well as concepts in science and technology, science in personal and social perspectives, the history and nature of science, the unifying concepts of science, and the inquiry processes scientists use in discovery of new knowledge to build a base for scientific and technological literacy; 2.3. Mathematics—Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts, procedures, and reasoning processes of mathematics that define number systems and number sense, geometry, measurement, statistics and probability, and algebra in order to foster student understanding and use of patterns, quantities, and spatial relationships that can represent phenomena, solve problems, and manage data; 2.4. Social studies—Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts and modes of inquiry from the social studies—the integrated study of history, geography, the social sciences, and other related areas —to promote elementary students’ abilities to make informed decisions as citizens of a culturally diverse democratic society and interdependent world; 2.5. The arts—Candidates know, understand, and use—as appropriate to their own understanding and skills—the content, functions, and achievements of dance, music, theater, and the several visual arts as primary media for communication, inquiry, and insight among elementary students; 2.6. Health education—Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts in the subject matter of health education to create opportunities for student development and practice of skills that contribute to good health; 2.7. Physical education—Candidates know, understand, and use—as appropriate to their own understanding and skills—human movement and physical activity as central elements to foster active, healthy life styles and enhanced quality of life for elementary students; 2.8. Connections across the curriculum—Candidates know, understand, and use the connections among concepts, procedures, and applications from content areas to motivate elementary students, build understanding, and encourage the application of knowledge, skills, and ideas to real world issues.

INSTRUCTION

3.1. Integrating and applying knowledge for instruction—Candidates plan and implement instruction based on knowledge of students, learning theory, subject matter, curricular goals, and community; 3.2. Adaptation to diverse students--Candidates understand how elementary students differ in their development and approaches to learning, and create instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse students; 3.3. Development of critical thinking, problem solving, performance skills--Candidates understand and use a variety of teaching strategies that encourage elementary students’ development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills; 3.4. Active engagement in learning--Candidates use their knowledge and understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior among students at the K-6 level to foster active engagement in learning, self motivation, and positive social interaction and to create supportive learning environments; 3.5. Communication to foster collaboration—Candidates use their knowledge and understanding of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the elementary classroom.

ASSESSMENT

4. Assessment for instruction--Candidates know, understand, and use formal and informal assessment strategies to plan, evaluate and strengthen instruction that will promote continuous intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development of each elementary student.

PROFESSIONALISM 5.1. Practices and behaviors of developing career teachers—Candidates understand and apply practices and behaviors that are characteristic of developing career teachers; 5.2. Reflection and evaluation—Candidates are aware of and reflect on their practice in light of research on teaching and resources available for professional learning; they continually evaluate the effects of their professional decisions and actions on students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community and actively seek out opportunities to grow professionally; 5.3. Collaboration with families—Candidates know the importance of establishing and maintaining a positive collaborative relationship with families to promote the academic, social and emotional growth of children; 5.4. Collaboration with colleagues and the community—Candidates foster relationships with school colleagues and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and well-being.
FULL TEXT of ELEMENTARY EDUCATION STANDARDS

Rubrics for the standards can be accessed at this link: http://www.udel.edu/bateman/acei/Rubrics.htm

DEVELOPMENT, LEARNING, AND MOTIVATION

STANDARD 1. Development, learning, and motivation--Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts, principles, theories, and research related to development of children and young adolescents to construct learning opportunities that support individual students' development, acquisition of knowledge, and motivation.

Supporting explanation

Candidates for elementary teaching base their teaching and related professional responsibilities on a thorough understanding of developmental periods of childhood and early adolescence. In curriculum planning, instruction, and assessment of student learning, they consider, accommodate, and integrate the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and linguistic developmental characteristics of children and young adolescents. Candidates draw on developmental knowledge to plan curriculum that is achievable but also challenging for children at various developmental levels. They draw upon an in-depth knowledge of child and young adolescent development and learning to understand students' abilities, interests, individual aspirations, and values, and they adapt curriculum and teaching to motivate and support student learning and development. Candidates for elementary teaching understand that the ways in which cultures and social groups differ are important and affect learning. They recognize when an individual student’s development differs from typical developmental patterns and collaborate with specialists to plan and implement appropriate learning experiences that address individual needs. Candidates know that all children can learn when developmental factors are recognized, respected, and accommodated, and they demonstrate that knowledge in their practice. They consider diversity an asset and respond positively to it.

Source documents for Development, Learning, and Motivation

NAEYC Position Statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8, National Association for Education of Young Children, 1997

NMSA/NCATE-Approved Curriculum Guidelines Handbook, National Middle School Association, 1997

Draft Standards for Teachers of Middle Childhood, Indiana Professional Standards Board, 1996

Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators, Maurice J. Elias et al., Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1997

CURRICULUM

STANDARD 2.1. English language arts--Candidates demonstrate a high level of competence in use of the English language arts and they know, understand, and use concepts from reading, language and child development, to teach reading, writing, speaking, viewing, listening, and thinking skills and to help students successfully apply their developing skills to many different situations, materials, and ideas;

Supporting explanation

Candidates are adept at teaching the fundamentals of the English Language Arts. They model effective use of English, including its syntax, lexicon, history, varieties, literature, and oral and written composing processes. Candidates understand how elementary children develop and learn to read, write, speak, view, and listen effectively. They use their knowledge and understanding of language, first and second language development, and the language arts to design instructional programs and strategies that build on students' experiences and existing language skills and result in their students becoming competent, effective users of language.

They teach students to read competently and encourage students' enjoyment of reading through multiple instructional strategies, technologies, and a variety of language activities. Candidates teach children to read with a balanced instructional program that includes an emphasis on use of letter/sound relationships (phonics), context (semantic and syntactic), and text that has meaning for students. In addition, candidates teach students a variety of strategies to monitor their own reading comprehension. They are also familiar with, able to use, and recommend to students many reading materials based on different topics, themes, and a variety of situations and consisting of different types, including stories, poems, biography, non-fiction, many categories of literature written for children, and texts from various subject areas. As a part of teaching students how to read, candidates encourage elementary students’ understanding of their individual responses to what they read and sharing those responses. They help students think critically about what they read.

Candidates provide both instruction in and opportunities for elementary students to develop effective writing and speaking skills so that they can communicate their knowledge, ideas, understanding, insights, feelings, and experiences to other students and to parents, teachers, and other adults. They provide their students with many different writing and speaking experiences in order to teach the skills of writing and speaking. They enable students to explore the uses of different types of writing and speaking with different audiences and in different situations. Candidates help students develop their capacities to listen so that they understand, consider, respond to, and discuss spoken material, including non-fiction, stories, and poems.

Candidates know what preconceptions, error patterns, and misconceptions they may expect to find in students' understanding of how language functions in communication, and they are able to help students correct their misunderstandings of the development and uses of language. Candidates use formative and summative assessment to determine the level of students' competence in their understanding of and use of language. They use the results of such assessment to plan further instruction.

Source documents for English Language Arts

Guidelines for the Preparation of Teachers of English Language Arts, National Council of Teachers of English, 1996 edition

Standards for the English Language Arts, National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association, 1996

Standards for Reading Professionals, International Reading Association, 1998

Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children, Catherine E. Snow, M. Susan Burns, and Peg Griffin, editors; National Research Council, 1998

STANDARD 2.2. Science--Candidates know, understand, and use fundamental concepts in the subject matter of science—including physical, life, and earth and space sciences—as well as concepts in science and technology, science in personal and social perspectives, the history and nature of science, the unifying concepts of science, and the inquiry processes scientists use in discovery of new knowledge to build a base for scientific and technological literacy;

Supporting explanation

Candidates have a broad general understanding of science and they teach elementary students the nature of science, and the content and fundamentals of physical, life, earth and space sciences, and their interrelationships. They are familiar with, and teach, the major concepts and principles that unify all scientific effort and that are used in each of the science disciplines: (1) systems, order, and organization; (2) evidence, models, and explanation; (3) change, constancy, and measurement; (4) evolution and equilibrium; and (5) form and function. Candidates engage elementary students in the science inquiry process that involves asking questions, planning and conducting investigations, using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data, thinking critically and logically about relationships between evidence and explanations, constructing and analyzing alternative explanations, and communicating scientific arguments and explanations. They introduce students to understandings about science and technology and to distinctions between natural objects and objects made by humans by creating experiences in making models of useful things, and by developing students’ abilities to identify and communicate a problem, and to design, implement, and evaluate a solution. They know naive theories and misconceptions most children have about scientific and technological phenomena and help children build understanding. Candidates understand the use of assessment through diverse data-collection methods as ways to inform their teaching and to help students learn scientific inquiry, scientific understanding of the natural world, and the nature and utility of science.

Source documents for science

National Science Education Standards, National Academy Press, especially chapters 3, Science Teaching Standards, 4, Standards for Professional Development for teachers of Science, and 6, Science Content Standards, 1996

Pathways to the Science Standards: Elementary School Edition, L. Lowery, National Science Teachers Association, Arlington, 1997

Benchmarks for Science Literacy, Project 2061, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Oxford University Press, 1993

The Future of Science in Elementary Schools: Educating Prospective Teachers, Senta A. Raizen and Arie M. Michelsohn, editors, The National Center for Improving Science Education, 1994

NCATE Program Standards, "Programs for Initial Preparation of Teachers of Science," prepared by the National Science Teachers Association, approved by National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, 1998

Technology for All Americans: A Rationale and Structure for the Study of Technology, International Technology Education Association, 1996

Standards for Technology: Content for the Study of Technology, International Technology Education Association, March, 1999

STANDARD 2.3. Mathematics--Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts, procedures, and reasoning processes of mathematics that define number systems and number sense, geometry, measurement, statistics and probability, and algebra in order to foster student understanding and use of patterns, quantities, and spatial relationships that can represent phenomena, solve problems, and manage data;

Supporting explanation

Candidates are able to teach elementary students to explore, conjecture, and reason logically using various methods of proof; to solve non-routine problems; to communicate about and through mathematics by writing and orally using everyday language and mathematical language, including symbols; to represent mathematical situations and relationships; and to connect ideas within mathematics and between mathematics and other intellectual activity. They help students understand and use measurement systems (including time, money, temperature, two and three dimensional objects using non-standard and standard customary and metric units); explore pre-numeration concepts, whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percents and their relationships; apply the four basic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) with symbols and variables to solve problems and to model, explain, and develop computational algorithms; use geometric concepts and relationships to describe and model mathematical ideas and real-world constructs; as well as formulate questions, and collect, organize, represent, analyze, and interpret data by use of tables, graphs, and charts. They also help elementary students identify and apply number sequences and proportional reasoning, predict outcomes and conduct experiments to test predictions in real-world situations; compute fluently; make estimations and check the reasonableness of results; select and use appropriate problem-solving tools, including mental arithmetic, pencil-and-paper computation, a variety of manipulatives and visual materials, calculators, computers, electronic information resources, and a variety of other appropriate technologies to support the learning of mathematics. Candidates know and are able to help students understand the history of mathematics and contributions of diverse cultures to that history. They know what mathematical preconceptions, misconceptions, and error patterns to look for in elementary student work as a basis to improve understanding and construct appropriate learning experiences and assessments.

Source documents for mathematics

Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1991

Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, NCTM, 1989

Principles and Standards 2000 for School Mathematics, NCTM, (forthcoming, April 2000)

Assessment Standards for School Mathematics, NCTM, 1995 NCATE Program Standards, "Programs for Initial Preparation of Teachers of Mathematics,” prepared by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, approved by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, 1998

STANDARD 2.4. Social studies--Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts and modes of inquiry from the social studies--the integrated study of history, geography, the social sciences, and other related areas--to promote elementary students' abilities to make informed decisions as citizens of a culturally diverse democratic society and interdependent world;

Supporting explanation

The social studies include history, geography, the social sciences (such as anthropology, archaeology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology) and other related areas (such as humanities, law, philosophy, religion, mathematics, science and technology). Candidates are able to use knowledge, skills, and dispositions from social studies to organize and provide integrated instruction in grades K-6 for the study of major themes, concepts and modes of inquiry drawn from academic fields that address: (1) culture; (2) time, continuity, and change; (3) people, places, and environment; (4) individual development and identity; (5) individuals, groups, and institutions; (6) power, governance, and authority; (7) production, distribution, and consumption; (8) science, technology, and society; (9) global connections; and (10) civic ideals and practices. Candidates use their knowledge of social studies to help students learn about academic fields of knowledge, as well as major themes that integrate knowledge across academic fields. They develop experiences to help elementary students learn about the historical development of democratic values; the basic principles of government and citizenship in a democratic republic; the past, present, and future; spatial relations; the development of nations, institutions, economic systems, culture, and cultural diversity; the influences of belief systems; and the humanities. Candidates are able to help students read, write, listen, discuss, speak, and research to build background knowledge; examine a variety of sources (e.g., primary and secondary sources, maps, statistical data, and electronic technology-based information); acquire and manipulate data; analyze points of view; formulate well-supported oral and written arguments, policies, and positions; construct new knowledge and apply knowledge in new settings. They use formative and summative assessments in planning and implementing instruction.

Source documents for social studies

NCSS Standards for Social Studies Teachers, National Council for the Social Studies, 1998

Expectations of Excellence: Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, National Council for the Social Studies, 1994

National Standards for History, National Center for History in the Schools, 1996

Geography for Life: National Geography Standards, The Geographic Education Standards Project, National Geographic Society, 1994

Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics, The National Council on Economic Education, 1997

National Standards for Civics and Government, Center for Civic Education, 1994 STANDARD 2.5. The arts—Candidates know, understand, and use—as appropriate to their own knowledge and skills—the content, functions, and achievements of dance, music, theater, and the several visual arts as primary media for communication, inquiry, and insight among elementary students;

Supporting explanation

Candidates understand distinctions and connections between arts study and arts experiences. They recognize that arts instruction must be sequential. Candidates encourage the kind of study and active participation that leads to competence and appreciation. Consistent with their own knowledge and skills in the arts disciplines, they work alone, with arts specialist teachers, and/or with other qualified arts professionals enabling students: (1) to communicate at a basic level in the four arts disciplines--dance, music, theater, and the visual arts-- including knowledge and skills in the use of basic vocabularies, materials, traditional and technology-based tools, techniques, and thinking processes of each arts discipline; (2) to develop and present basic analyses of works of art from structural, historical, and cultural perspectives; (3) to have an informed acquaintance with exemplary works of art from a variety of cultures and historical periods; and (4) to relate basic types of arts knowledge and skills within and across the arts disciplines, and to make connections with other disciplines. Candidates understand that student competence at a basic level serves as the foundation for more advanced work. They understand that there are many routes to competence, that elementary students may work in different arts at different times, that their study may take a variety of approaches, and that their abilities may develop at different rates.

Source document for the arts

National Standards for Arts Education; What Every Young American Should Know and Be Able to Do in the Arts, Consortium of National Arts Education Associations (American Alliance for Theatre & Education, Music Educators National Conference, National Art Education Association, and National Dance Association), 1994

STANDARD 2.6. Health education--Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts in the subject matter of health education to create opportunities for student development and practice of skills that contribute to good health;

Supporting explanation

Candidates understand the foundations of good health, including the structure and function of the body and its systems and the importance of physical fitness and sound nutrition. They help students understand the benefits of a healthy lifestyle for themselves and others as well as the dangers of diseases and activities that may contribute to disease. Teacher candidates are alert to major health issues concerning children and the social forces that affect them, and of the need to impart information on these issues sensitively. They address issues in ways that help students recognize potentially dangerous situations, clarify misconceptions, and find reliable sources of information.

Source document for health education

National Health Education Standards; Achieving Health Literacy, Joint Committee on National Health Education Standards (Association for the Advancement of Health Education, American School Health Association, American Public Health Association), American Cancer Society, 1995

STANDARD 2.7. Physical education—Candidates know, understand, and use—as appropriate to their own understanding and skills—human movement and physical activity as central elements to foster active, healthy life styles and enhanced quality of life for elementary students;

Supporting explanation

Candidates understand physical education content relevant to the development of physically educated individuals. They structure learning activities to ensure that students demonstrate competence in many movement forms, and can apply movement concepts and principles to the learning and development of motor skills. Teacher candidates know that physical inactivity is a major health risk factor in our society and recognize the critical importance of physically active life styles for all students. They help students develop knowledge and skills necessary to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical fitness. Teacher candidates appreciate the intrinsic values and benefits associated with physical activity. They are able to structure movement experiences that foster opportunities for enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, and social interaction, and that elicit responsible personal and social behavior and respect for individual differences among people in physical activity.

Source documents for physical education

Moving Into the Future; National Standards for Physical Education, National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 1995

National Standards for Beginning Physical Education Teachers, Beginning Teacher Standards Task Force of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 1995

STANDARD 2.8. Connections across the curriculum--Candidates know, understand, and use the connections among concepts, procedures, and applications from content areas to motivate elementary students, build understanding, and encourage the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and ideas to real world issues.

Supporting explanation

In their instruction, candidates make connections across the disciplines and draw on their knowledge of developmental stages to motivate students, build understanding, and encourage the application of knowledge, skills, and ideas to lives of elementary students across fields of knowledge and in real world situations. Candidates help elementary students learn the power of multiple perspectives to understand complex issues. Through personal actions and teaching, they demonstrate scholarly habits of mind, including: (1) a desire to know, (2) constructive questioning, (3) use of information and systematic data, (4) acceptance of ambiguity where it exists, (5) willingness to modify explanations, (6) a cooperative manner in responding to questions and solving problems, (7) respect for reason, imagination, and creativity and (8) honesty.

INSTRUCTION

STANDARD 3.1. Integrating and applying knowledge for instruction—Candidates plan and implement instruction based on knowledge of students, learning theory, subject matter, curricular goals, and community;

Supporting explanation

Candidates understand learning theory, subjects taught in elementary schools (described in sections 2a through 2i of the Program Standards), curriculum development, and student development and know how to use this understanding in planning instruction to meet curriculum goals. They are able to help students appreciate and be engaged in the subject matter. Candidates select and create learning experiences that are appropriate for curriculum goals, meaningful to elementary students, and based upon principles of effective teaching (e.g. that activate students' prior knowledge, anticipate preconceptions, encourage exploration and problem-solving, and build new skills on those previously acquired). They use a variety of resources, including technology and textbooks, and look beyond their classroom to determine how numerous information resources in both print and electronic form might benefit their students. Candidates understand and use appropriate technology to help students become capable technology users through communication; through access, management, analysis and problem solving with information; and through collaborative and self-directed learning. They collaborate with specialists to promote learning in all areas of the curriculum for all elementary students.

Source documents for planning and implementing instruction

Draft Standards for Teachers of Middle Childhood, Indiana Professional Standards Board, 1996

National Educational Technology Standards for Students, National Educational Technology Standards Project, International Society for Technology in Education, 1998

STANDARD 3.2. Adaptation to diverse students—Candidates understand how elementary students differ in their development and approaches to learning, and create instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse students;

Supporting explanation

Candidates understand and can identify differences in approaches to learning and performance, including different learning styles, and ways students demonstrate learning. They understand how elementary students' learning is influenced by individual experiences, talents, disabilities, and prior learning, as well as language, culture, family, and community values. Candidates know how to seek assistance and guidance from specialists and other resources to address elementary students’ exceptional learning needs and understand the importance of collaboration with specialists and families. They identify and design instruction appropriate to K-6 students' levels of development, learning styles, strengths, and needs, using teaching approaches that are sensitive to the multiple experiences of students. Candidates plan instructional tasks and activities appropriate to the needs of students who are culturally diverse and those with exceptional learning needs in elementary schools. They are able to apply knowledge of the richness of contributions from diverse cultures to each content area studied by elementary students.

STANDARD 3.3. Development of critical thinking, problem solving and performance skills—Candidates understand and use a variety of teaching strategies that encourage elementary students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills;

Supporting explanation

Candidates understand cognitive processes associated with various kinds of learning and how these processes can be stimulated. They also understand principles and techniques, advantages and limitations, associated with appropriate teaching strategies (e.g. cooperative learning, direct instruction, inquiry, whole group discussion, independent study, interdisciplinary instruction). Candidates know how to enhance learning through use of a wide variety of materials as well as collaboration with specialists, other colleagues, and technological resources, and through multiple teaching and learning strategies that will promote development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance capabilities.

STANDARD 3.4. Active engagement in learning—Candidates use their knowledge and understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior among students at the K-6 level to foster active engagement in learning, self motivation, and positive social interaction and to create supportive learning environments;

Supporting explanation

Teacher candidates understand principles of effective classroom management as well as human motivation and behavior from the foundational sciences of psychology, anthropology, and sociology. They use a range of strategies and can collaborate with specialists to promote positive relationships, cooperation, conflict resolution, and purposeful learning in the classroom. They create learning communities in which elementary students assume responsibility for themselves and one another, participate in decisionmaking, work collaboratively and independently, and engage in purposeful learning activities. They understand and use appropriate and effective interpersonal and small group communication techniques to create an effective learning environment.

STANDARD 3.5. Communication to foster learning—Candidates use their knowledge and understanding of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the elementary classroom.

Supporting explanation

Candidates understand communication theory, language development, and the role of language in learning among elementary students, and they also understand how cultural and gender differences can affect communication in the classroom. They model effective communication strategies in conveying ideas and information and in asking questions (e.g. monitoring the effects of messages; restating ideas and drawing connections; using visual, aural, and kinesthetic cues; being sensitive to nonverbal cues given and received). They use oral and written discourse between themselves and their students, and among students, to develop and extend elementary students' understanding of subject matter. Candidates know how to use a variety of media communication tools, including audio-visual aids and computer-based technologies, to enrich learning opportunities.

ASSESSMENT

STANDARD 4. Assessment for instruction—Candidates know, understand, and use formal and informal assessment strategies to plan, evaluate, and strengthen instruction that will promote continuous intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development of each elementary student.

Supporting explanation

Candidates know that assessment is an essential and integral part of instruction. It defines the beginning point; helps identify objectives, materials and effective teaching methods or techniques; and informs the need to re-teach or adapt instruction. They understand the characteristics, uses, advantages, and limitations of different types of assessment appropriate for evaluating how K-6 students learn, what they know, and what they are able to do in each subject area. Candidates recognize that many different assessment tools and strategies, accurately and systematically used, are necessary for monitoring and promoting learning for each student. Elementary teacher candidates appropriately use a variety of formal and informal assessment techniques (e.g. observation, portfolios of elementary student work, teacher-made tests, performance tasks, projects, student self-assessments, peer assessment, and standardized tests) to enhance their knowledge of individual students, evaluate students' progress and performances, modify teaching and learning strategies, and collaborate with specialists on accommodating the needs of students with exceptionalities. Candidates use formative and summative assessments to determine student understanding of each subject area and take care to align assessments with instructional practice. They are aware that technology can facilitate appropriate forms of assessment and provide evidence across multiple dimensions of student performance. They use technology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of assessment processes and in management of instruction. Candidates also monitor their own teaching strategies and behavior in relation to student success, modifying plans and instructional approaches accordingly.

Source document for assessment

Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students, American Federation of Teachers, National Council on Measurement in Education, and National Education Association, 1990

PROFESSIONALISM

STANDARD 5.1. Practices and behaviors of developing career teachers—Candidates understand and apply practices and behaviors that are characteristic of developing career teachers;

Supporting explanation

While synthesis of knowledge is a lifetime process for a professional, by the end of teacher preparation candidates ready to enter the classroom as elementary generalist teachers should be: [1] working independently on a variety of disciplinary and pedagogical problems and responsibilities by combining as appropriate their knowledge and skills in (a) child development; (b) English language arts, science, mathematics, social studies, the arts, health and physical education, (c) instructional technique and learning technologies, and (d) assessment; [2] focusing and defending independent analyses and value judgments about disciplinary content and teaching methodologies, their various potential relationships, and their applications to specific circumstances; [3] acquiring the intellectual tools to work with evolving issues and conditions as time and situations change, including the ability to make wise decisions according to time, place, and population; [4] identifying, accessing, and using technology-based resources in support of their continuing professional development; [5] demonstrating awareness of and commitment to the profession's codes of ethical conduct; and [6] understanding basic interrelationships and interdependencies among the various professions and activities that constitute the disciplines, content, and processes of elementary education.

Source documents for professional competence

Code of Ethics of the Education Profession, National Education Association Representative Assembly, adopted in 1975

Code of Ethics, American Federation of Teachers, adopted in 1971

Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment, S. Feeney and K. Kipnis, NAEYC, 1992

STANDARD 5.2. Reflection and evaluation—Candidates are aware of and reflect on their practice in light of research on teaching and resources available for professional learning; they continually evaluate the effects of their professional decisions and actions on students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community and actively seek out opportunities to grow professionally;

Supporting explanation

Candidates understand methods of inquiry that provide them with a variety of self-assessment and problem solving strategies for reflecting on their practice, its influences on K-6 students' growth and learning, and the complex interactions between them. They know major areas of research on teaching and of resources available for professional learning (e.g. professional literature, colleagues, professional associations, professional development activities). They use classroom observation, information about students, and research as sources for evaluating the outcomes of teaching and learning and as a basis for experimenting with, reflecting on, and revising practice. Candidates apply their knowledge of current research and national, state, and local guidelines relating to the disciplines taught in elementary school.

STANDARD 5.3. Collaboration with families—Candidates know the importance of establishing and maintaining a positive collaborative relationship with families to promote the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical growth of children;

Supporting explanation

Candidates understand different family beliefs, traditions, values, and practices across cultures and within society and use their knowledge effectively. They involve families as partners in supporting the school both inside and outside the classroom. Candidates respect parents' choices and goals for their children and communicate effectively with parents about curriculum and children’s progress. They involve families in assessing and planning for individual children, including children with disabilities, developmental delays, or special abilities.

Source document for collaboration with families

National Standards for Parent/Family Programs, National PTA, 1998

STANDARD 5.4. Collaboration with colleagues and the community—Candidates foster relationships with school colleagues and agencies in the larger community to support students' learning and well-being.

Supporting explanation

Candidates understand schools as organizations within the larger community context and the operations of relevant aspects of the systems in which they work. They also understand how factors in the elementary students' environments outside of school may influence the students' cognitive, emotional, social, and physical well-being and, consequently, their lives and learning. Candidates participate in collegial activities designed to make the entire school a productive learning environment and develop effective collaborations with specialists.

Source document for collaboration with colleagues and the community

Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators, Maurice J. Elias et al., Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1997