It was an honor to work with many teachers and business leaders in developing the updated Career Technical Education standards for the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) career sector. I know the new ICT standards embrace the knowledge and interests of teachers throughout California because they were all engaged in the process through a survey feedback loop. We all did a good job!

There are now many standards to consider when developing or adopting curriculum and curriculum resources: The ICT standards are linked to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and are consistent with the Model School Library Standards for California’s Public Schools because a knowledgeable teacher-librarian was on the ICT standards development team.  The State Board of Education adopted the Next Generation Science Standards this past September.  

A major challenge is to strike the right balance integrating standards into new standards-based curriculum.  A good first read is to consider advice from Linda Darling-Hammond on What’s Keeping our Students from Learning.

Diane Ravitch recently shared some of Linda Darling-Hammonds thoughts on CCSS:

“I think there are some elements of the CCSS documents that are potentially useful in setting our sights on higher order thinking and performance skills, and those are important. However, I am fearful that they will be badly implemented in many states. What we should do is take time – at least the next 3 years – to develop curriculum resources that teachers can select, adapt, try out, and refine together in collegial professional development settings within and across their schools. We should use the standards as guideposts and not straitjackets.”

So the work has started, but there is a lot more work ahead!  Let’s remember to take the time necessary for collaboration, experimentation and professional development.