Unwrapping the Standards
The Maine Department of Education, in collaboration with the Center for Adult Learning
and Literacy (CALL) and the Center for Performance Assessment, will be offering a one
day seminar for adult education directors entitled “Unwrapping the Standards.”
Facilitating the workshop will be Dr. Michael Wasta, Superintendent of Schools for
Bristol, Connecticut. Dr. Wasta has had considerable experience in the implementation
of Standards based Educational Systems using the Making Standards Work approach
(that includes the Unwrapping the Standards concepts and processes). He has worked
both in the Bristol school system and as a consultant to numerous other school districts
in Connecticut. His background also includes experience in alternative education,
assessment, and special education.
The “Unwrapping the Standards” workshop provides the link between the articulation
and understanding of The Maine Learning Results and their practical application in the
form of lesson plans and classroom activities. This workshop will provide you with the
necessary knowledge and tools that will allow you to return to your program and work
with your teachers and staff on implementation of standards based instruction and
assessment. Each registered participant will receive a resource notebook, containing
the exercises, handouts and other materials from the workshop, as well as a copy of the
book “Unwrapping the Standards – a Simple Process to Make Standards Manageable”
by Larry Ainsworth.
The Center for Performance Assessment describes the “Unwrapping the Standards”
workshop as follows:
“Teachers, administrators …and others involved in implementing standards …
need strategies for identifying what skills and knowledge will help ensure high
achievement levels for students in the classroom. This one-day seminar shows
participants how to narrow academic content standards to the "Power Standards"
by distinguishing the "essential" standards from those that are "nice-to-know"….
The Power Standards are then "unwrapped" to determine the critical concepts
and skills contained within them. The identification of Power Standards is often
the first step school systems take in effectively implementing standards. Once
this is accomplished, attention turns to aligning the Power Standards with
curriculum, instruction, and assessment. One of the most powerful practices for
imparting the Power Standards to students is called "unwrapping" the standards.
These unwrapped concepts and skills are represented on a graphic organizer
and then used to plan lessons, focus instruction, and drive assessment. The
great news is that the unwrapping standards process works in all [levels] and in
all content areas!
Educators next identify the "Big Ideas," or lasting understandings, from the
unwrapped concepts and skills that they want students to discover on their own
and remember long after instruction ends. With these Big Ideas clearly in mind,
they then formulate "Essential Questions" to share with students at the inception
of an instructional unit. These questions guide educators in the selection of
lessons and activities they will use to advance student understanding of the
unwrapped concepts and skills. The goal is for students to be able to answer the
Essential Questions with the Big Ideas stated in their own words by the
conclusion of an instructional unit.”
The “Unwrapping the Standards” workshop provides the link between the articulation
and understanding of The Maine Learning Results and their practical application in the
form of lesson plans and classroom activities. This workshop will provide you with the
necessary knowledge and tools that will allow you to return to your program and work
with your teachers and staff on implementation of standards based instruction and
assessment. Each registered participant will receive a resource notebook, containing
the exercises, handouts and other materials from the workshop, as well as a copy of the
book “Unwrapping the Standards – a Simple Process to Make Standards Manageable”
by Larry Ainsworth.