According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, three-quarters of 12th and 8th graders lack proficiency in writing, and 40 percent of high school juniors who took the ACT writing exam in 2016 lacked the reading and writing skills necessary…
The Evolution of the Competent Learner Concept and Why It Benefits Students
Merriam Webster defines competence as having essential or adequate ability or qualities. In an educational setting, competence means having the necessary behaviors, ability, knowledge, or skill to facilitate learning. As an educator, competence means more than being adequate. It means…
Helping Students Who Suffered the Most from Last Year’s Lost Learning
The COVID 19 pandemic has created many new and unique educational issues. It is abundantly clear that most students experienced some degree of lost learning. Admirably, most school districts fixed the various non-attendance, grading, and technology issues that plagued the…
Why Grade Level Instruction Is Important For All Students
Standards Plus has staunchly advocated that schools should provide equal opportunities to ensure that all students learn their current grade-level standards. Students who have fallen behind should receive appropriate intervention while still learning pertinent grade-level material. However, most adaptive learning…
The Best Ways to Address Virtual Classroom Challenges
Distance learning is creating new unprecedented challenges for teachers. Each class environment, and student, presents a unique situation. Virtual classes often have up to 35 students joining remotely, and teachers are working exceptionally hard to bring all these diverse situations…
How to Address the Ramifications of Adaptive Learning
Adaptive learning uses technology to facilitate personalized instruction for individual students by applying algorithms and data to adjust the pace and path of learning. The concept of adaptive learning got introduced in the 1970s; however, it became more prevalent during…
What is Recovered Lost Learning and Why Is It Important?
Typically, over the summer break, student achievement scores decline by one month compared to the previous school year. However, the projections for this year are even more disheartening. Student learning loss from last school year’s distance learning experience is estimated…
Calendar Your Standards Plus Lessons NOW!
“That which gets calendared gets done.” I have yet to meet an effective educator who does not live by their school calendars and/or lesson plan books. Calendaring instruction is such a basic teacher ritual that thinking about teaching without a…
Standards Plus and Blended Learning
As a Standards Plus employee, I am privileged to interact with curriculum and instruction experts from around the country, and sometimes from around the world. One concept I have attempted to explore is “blended Learning.” I tried to discuss this…
Why is it appropriate to Prepare Students for High Stakes Assessments?
Why is it appropriate to Prepare Students for High Stakes Assessments? Much is written in education literature about test preparation and/or practicing for a specific test. Much of the writing relates to questions regarding the efficacy and ethical appropriateness of…