The Standards-Based Classroom: Make Learning the Goal

by Emily A. Rinkema, Stan Williams

Get to know which practices related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment are essential to make learning the goal for every student! You’ll learn how to

Genres: Education, Professional Development, Nonfiction, Teaching

168 pages, Paperback

Published August 28, 2018

Reviews

[Jen Hyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful, practical resource for educators making the switch to standards/proficiency-based learning.

[Gordon Eldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book Emily Rinkema proposes a complete system for standards-based teaching, learning and assessing. The system moves through 4 stages - (1) articulate desired results, (2) develop targeted assessments, (3) design effective instruction, and (4) monitor and communicate learning. At each stage, she provides a rationale for why it is important and provides specific, detailed tools to support the purpose as well as advice on how to use them and concrete examples of their use in classrooms.

Rinkema is clear that her system is ONE way to instantiate standards-based teaching and learning, and other possibilities certainly exist, but her system is thoughtfully constructed with extremely high quality examples. The quality of the examples is a rarity in books about education. Too often authors preach a particular practice, but are unable to give truly exemplary examples of that practice. Nothing could be further from the truth with this book. Every example is a truly impressive model.

This book is inspiring. It presents an achievable ( though not easily) picture of what standards-based education could do to truly personalize and improve learning.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick intro to standards-based teaching practices focused on grades 6-12. It provides basic and practical guidance for getting started. There are a couple, no frills examples of recommended teaching, planning and assessment tools in each chapter. The authors highlight practical challenges and tips for making implementation easier or more gradual. Each chapter also includes an annotated list of resources for learning more on the topic.

I don’t work at a standards-based learning school, but can easily implement many of the ideas to make learning objectives and how I measure progress more transparent within my own classroom. The learning scales are a great alternative to rubrics making teaching, learning and providing feedback very clear and streamlined.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely phenomenal book about standards-based learning (or mastery-based learning. Well, standard based rating practices are discussed, the focus is on planning, differentiating, assessing, and providing feedback because those practices must be handled before worrying about grading. My favorite part is, I felt like I didn’t have to adopt the same exact plan and format as the authors, because their description of their format gave me opportunities to think about my beliefs and what works in my setting.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very useful resource as an introduction to SBL. I felt like it was very practical and filled with steps that I could put into place immediately at my current school (that does not do SBG) as well as my future school (that does). Some key points that I particularly liked: learning targets directly connected to assignments (different than objectives), KUDs outlined at the start of units, and differentiating based on learning targets.

[Chris Minor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciate the way this books is structured. It is written by teachers for teachers with an explicit understanding of how to jump into the how, provide additional resources, and set up a space for starting points without a complete overhaul. This change is not a light switch. The authors do an excellent job of acknowledging the size of the transition, emphasizing the importance of change, while providing pragmatic approaches to it all. Well done!

[Lauren Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book opened my eyes to the importance of crafting more effective learning targets that are scalable and reflect transferable skills. It also has incredible book recommendations within it that led me to a pool of new reading material that has continued to open my eyes.

[Janeen Pizzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the scaled approach that they shared in this assessment text. The fact that they share the theory, examples, and spiral their work throughout each chapter really helped support the work they are doing. I will hopefully find some more of their work that I can share with my students to discuss.

[Liz Matheny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good intro and resource, but not what I needed

[Penny Louks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of things to think about! It is a good read, even if your school district is not participating in standards based grading--it will make you rethink your own classroom grading and practices.

[Lauren Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical, challenging... And guilt-inducing. Wish I had read this a few months before I first started teaching. It has irrevocably changed my mindset.

[Jeanie Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen to a podcast discussion about this book here: https://tiie.w3.uvm.edu/blog/vted-rea...

A super useful and insightful primer on proficiency-based education.