Section Four: Alignment to Curriculum & Professional Standards

Introduction
When pursuing mastery in any art, or craft it is always important to have visible and clear

standards to hold yourself accountable for. In many ways these standards act as a system of self-

checking in times of reflection, as well as assessing from proven experts in the field. There is

certainly no lack of professional or curriculum standards when looking at teaching in New York

State, or almost anywhere for that matter. These standards make it possible for teachers to relate

to each other from across the state because they are universally applicable in design. These

universal standards are designed in order to give all students the same education and therefore

equal opportunity at said education.

Curriculum and Professional Standards

INTASC Standards

The INTASC standards are designed for teachers but are very clearly student centric.

Each of the standards revolves around making sure each student is treated as an individual and

that their individual learning needs are met. The INTASC standards address everything from

curriculum, to environment, to instructional strategies and in doing so is very comprehensive in

addressing the needs of all students in many different respects.

The following artifacts connect with INTASC standards:

1) Artifact #2 - Literacy Lesson Plan

2) Artifact #4 - Weebly Website

3) Artifact #8 - Pecha Kucha Presentation

NYS Code of Ethics for Educators

These ethics are important to uphold many implicit agreements human beings hold between

each other and without them chaos would most definitely ensue. This is why there is a clearly

outlined code of ethics for educators in New York, because the risks of not having this clear

outline are high and the benefits are extensive.

The following artifacts connect with NYS Code of Ethics for Educators:

1) Artifact #1 – Science Catapult Lesson

2) Artifact #4 – Weebly Website

3) Artifact #7 – Save and Child Abuse Certificates

NYS P-12 Common Core Learning Standards

The Common Core Learning Standards are used to guide new, an experienced teachers in

order to focus their attention on the most important topics as deemed by the state. There are

many benefits to using these, especially when standardized testing is so prevalent it is imperative

there are uniform learning standards. Without information like this readily available many

teachers would spend time on topics that the students would not be assessed on and therefore

wasting their time. These standards are another way NYS is trying to keep the playing field even

across all school districts.

The following artifacts connect to the NYS P-12 Common Core Learning Standards:

1) Artifact # 3 – Math: Graphing Lesson Plan

2) Artifact #6 – Literacy Assessment

NYS Learning Standards

comprehensive system of learning standards we use such as NYS P-12 Common Core. When

looking at the two it is important to not the differences though because there is a couple. The

main difference and strength of the NYS Learning Standards is the emphasis not only places on

curriculum itself but also the values that come along with education in New York. The NYS

Learning Standards have a much broader scope and cover more of the standards for education as

a whole.

The Following artifacts connect to the NYS Learning Standards:

1) Artifact #1 – Science Catapult Lesson

2) Artifact #2 - Literacy Lesson Plan

3) Artifact #3 – Math Graphing Lesson Plan

4) Artifact #5 – SMART Tech

5) Artifact #6 – Literacy Assessment

International Society for Technology Education for Teachers and Students (ISTE)

The standards defined by the ISTE include goals set in order to usher all educators and

students into a digital era. These standards focus mostly on technology, its uses, and how to

implement technology in your classroom. The ISTE is unique in this way because in a digital era

not many resources exist that can give universal guidelines for using technology in your

classroom.

The following artifacts connect to the ISTE:

1) Artifact #1 – Catapult Lesson Plan

2) Artifact #3 – Math Graphing Lesson Plan

3) Artifact #4 – Weebly Website

5) Artifact #7 – SAVE and Child Abuse Certificates

6) Artifact #8 – Pecha Kucha Presentation

CAEP Standards

The CAEP Standards are a bit of an anomaly in this list because they are standards for

teachers of teachers. They are a list of 5 broad values that each educator should possess by the

time they are a fully fledged teacher in the eyes of New York. These standards are there to

ensure that teachers are entering the field with just about the same approximate knowledge as

their peers and their new employers know what to expect when they are hired.

The following artifacts connect with CAEP Standards:

1) Artifact #2 – Literacy Lesson Plan

2) Artifact #6 – Literacy Assessment

Conclusion

Professional and curriculum standards exist in many professional fields, and maybe none

so important as education. Education and schooling is widespread across our country and it is

obvious we need such guidelines to keep everyone relatively on the same page. These also give

our betters, our peers, and ourselves a way to check our progression as educators in order to not

fall behind. The classroom dynamic and paradigm is always shifting, especially in our

technology driven world; which makes platforms such as these even more important. As society
changes, so do our values and with these statewide recognized standards educators across New

York can keep up with what is important.