A-Z Index | Contact Us

An Introduction to Academic Standards and Benchmarks

Defining the Standards

What are standards?

Standards are a description of what students should understand or be able to do.

Standards may be listed in categories:

  • Content Standards: What students should understand and be able to do within a specific content area.
  • Lifelong Learning Standards: What students should understand and be able to do within most or all content areas.

With each standard there are accompanying benchmarks. A benchmark is a statement of learning that students will be expected to master by the end of a given grade level. The current draft has individual benchmarks pertinent to the course and standard being taught.

Standards and benchmarks will be organized by these levels initially, with the intent to create grade level and course benchmarks by the end of the Standards and Benchmarks Revision phase.

Why are standards necessary?

Standards serve as rigorous goals for teaching and learning. Setting high standards enables students, parents, educators, and citizens to know what students should have learned at a given point in time. The absence of standards has consequences similar to a lack of goals in any pursuit. Without clear goals, students do not have something to aim for.

Contemporary society is placing immense academic demands on students. Clear statements about what students must know and be able to do are essential to ensure that our schools offer students the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for success.

Standards provide increased knowledge and accountability to all interested parties, including taxpayers, parents, students and staff. In total, they provide a road map to the successful completion of each student's high school education. The movement to standards was set in motion as a result of district curriculum audits, the Project Connect Report, and Board of Education direction.

Where did the Kenosha standards come from?

Content area standards for all academic subject areas taught in the Kenosha Unified School District were developed by Kenosha teachers several years ago. Other Standards documents from the state of Wisconsin, national teaching organizations or institutes, other districts, and states were used to select and write the KUSD Standards and Benchmarks.

Why does Kenosha need its own academic standards? Why not just use the state of Wisconsin's Model Academic Standards?

Historically, the citizens of Wisconsin are very serious and thoughtful about education. They expect and receive very high performance from their schools. While educational needs may be similar among districts in Wisconsin, what is valued may differ. Standards serve the community when they reflect the collective values of the citizens. This set of standards was developed locally and we believe that they exceed the state's standards. They are being tailored to prepare Kenosha's young people for economic opportunities that exist locally, as well as across the state, the nation, or the world.

Using the Standards

How will KUSD use the standards?

The school district will use these standards as guides for updating and developing grade-by-grade level curriculum. Implementing the use of standards may result in significant changes in instructional methods and materials, local assessments, and professional development opportunities for the teaching and administrative staff. The organization of the standards within each discipline allows curriculum to be developed either for each discipline separately or in an integrated manner.

What does this mean for students?

Standards will:

  • provide additional challenges for those students already performing successfully under the current system
  • clarify expectations of achievement for students who are struggling
  • provide a higher level of accountability to students, parents, and the community

What is the difference between academic standards and curriculum?

Standards are statements about what students should know or be able to do. Curriculum is the program devised by local school districts which is used to prepare students to meet standards. It consists of activities, lessons, and units at each grade level as well as instructional materials. In short, standards define what is to be learned at certain points in time, and from a broad perspective, what performances will be accepted as evidence that the learning has occurred. Curriculum specifies the details of the day-to-day schooling at the local level.

Relating the Academic Standards to All Students

Parents and educators of students with disabilities, with limited English proficiency (LEP), and with accelerated needs may ask why academic content standards are important for their students. Clear academic standards provide meaningful, concrete targets for the achievement of students with exceptional education needs (EEN), (LEP), and accelerated needs so that they are consistent with all other students.

Academic standards may serve as the foundation for individualized programming decisions for some students. While the vast majority of students with EEN and LEP should be expected to work toward and achieve these standards, accommodation and modifications to help them reach the achievement goals will need to be individually identified and implemented. For students with EEN these decisions are made as part of their individualized education program (IEP) plans. Talented students may achieve well beyond the academic content standards and move into advanced grade levels or into advanced work.

Clearly, these academic standards are for all students. As our district assessments are aligned with these standards and multiple measures for determining proficiencies of students are developed, greater accountability for the progress of all students can be assured.