What is the Difference between Content Standards and Performance Standards?

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Standards can be presented in many ways. You can have content standards, benchmarks, and even performance standards. The first challenge
is understanding what each term means. It is difficult to define all the key words without the terms overlapping. Some states have fused all the
different types of standards into one, some are still presenting lists of content standards, along with performance standards and benchmarks. It
is, therefore, important that we understand the different types of standards so as to differentiate between Content Standards and Performance
Standards.
Broad statements that describe specific content areas that groups of students should learn at each grade level are called Content Standards4.
They define the knowledge within each discipline. For instance, a content standard for 6th grade science students could be, in Earth Science:
Students will understand the effects of the relative positions of the earth, moon and sun. These standards are also called Curriculum Standards
or Subject Standards.
Expectations for instruction, assessment, and student work are called Performance Standards. These incorporate Content Standards and define
the level of work that demonstrates achievement of the standards. Performance standards isolate and identify skills needed for problem-solving,
reasoning, communicating, and making connections with other information. They provide all constituents with the evidences that students have
met the content standards, helping teachers define what level of work is satisfactory.
Ohio's Learning Standards - Terminology Definitions
Academic Standards are clearly defined statements and illustrations of what all students, teachers, schools and school districts are expected to
know and be able to do. Educators generally discuss three types of standards:

Content Standards describe the knowledge and skills that students should attain, often called the "what" of "what students should
know and be able to do." They indicate the ways of thinking, working, communicating, reasoning and investigating the important and enduring
ideas, concepts, issues, dilemmas and knowledge essential to the discipline.

Performance Standards are concrete statements of how well students must learn what is set out in the content standards, often
called the "be able to do" of "what students should know and be able to do" Performance standards specify "how good is good enough." They
are the indicators of quality that specify how adept or competent a student demonstration must be.

Operating Standards describe the conditions for learning. These can include specific expectations and additional guidelines for
school districts, communities and families to use in creating the best learning conditions for meeting student needs and achieving state and local
educational goals and objectives.
A Benchmark is the specific component of the knowledge or skill identified by an academic content, performance or operational standard. It can
be characterized as being declarative, procedural or contextual in the type of knowledge it describes. Attainment is communicated through:

Performance Task, the construction of a response;

Performance Level, the defined score point on formal assessment.

Courses of Study align with the local district mission, philosophy and educational goals and specify learning and performance objectives. They
establish a scope and sequence of knowledge and skills to be taught grade-by-grade. They provide a way to assess student progress and the
need for intervention.
Curriculum is the way content is designed and delivered. It includes the structure, organization, balance and presentation of expected or
recommended study topics that address content standards and meet local expectations. A curriculum contains three primary elements:
substance, purpose and practice:

Substance communicates what should be taught. It is the field of instruction.

Purpose communicates why a topic should be taught. It is the context of instruction.

Practice communicates how a topic should be taught and learned. It is the methodology of instruction, (including the methodology of
collecting and using evidence of students learning to inform and to adjust instruction).

A Curriculum Model recommends topics for study that reflect and are aligned with the adopted academic content and performance standards.

Standards-Based Education is an academic program in which clearly defined academic content, performance and operating standards are
aligned. A standards-based education spells out what educators, schools and communities need to do to ensure achievement of expectations.

Multimedia Projectors: A Key Component in the Classroom of the Future

06/01/02

Classrooms have changed dramatically over the last decade with the advent of new technologies and equipment developed to
make teaching and learning more diversified and interactive. Today, more teachers than ever are using multimedia projectors in
the classroom. Students no longer have to crowd around a computer monitor to view presentations, Web sites or training
programs. Multimedia projectors are becoming the centerpiece of classroom technology hubs that directly engage students
and add impact to each lesson.
Identifying Classroom Needs
The education market's growing interest in multimedia projectors has led to increased research and development efforts from
product manufacturers. In the past, educators had to adapt projectors that were intended for business use. When educators
wanted a portable projector, they often settled for reduced image quality, fewer connection options and a machine that could get
very hot if run over long periods. However, when educators wanted a projector to perform at a high level for many hours, and
could accommodate multiple connections, they likely settled for a large machine stationed in a multimedia center or other
shared room where they had to relocate their class for that lesson - making it impractical for daily use. In both cases, these
Important Features and Classroom Applications
Educators identified the following key features as what they liked best when purchasing a projector, in order of those most
important to them: picture performance, resolution, long lamp life, product portability, brightness, PC connections and quiet
operation. Other attributes considered critical included overall projector performance, ease of use, purchase price and cost of
operation. In short, the study showed schools need affordable, high-performing, highly versatile and easy to use projectors.
When inquiring about what applications multimedia projectors are being used for (see chart below), 91 percent of the educators
surveyed who are currently using a multimedia projector indicated their most common use is for multimedia presentations.
Educators commented that disseminating information to students in more than one form -whether through the combined use of
text, audio, graphics or full-motion video - increases the student's chance of grasping and learning the lesson. Approximately 89
percent said they used the units for projecting computer screen images of the Internet or other PC applications while teaching,
and 45 percent said they used them to display movies in the classroom.
Teacher, Student Benefits
When asked how multimedia projectors affected the teaching and learning experience, several areas of influence were
identified, including visual aid, greater flexibility for alternative teaching methods, enhanced teacher demonstrations, heightened
student awareness and customized curriculum applications.
Visual aid. Multimedia projectors allow teachers to provide diverse content to all students in the classroom at once, allowing
students to have a visual and colorful learning experience during a given lesson. These projectors are perfect for this
generation's visually oriented youth because they help make abstract concepts easier to understand.
Alternative way of teaching. By not forcing a teacher to rely solely on books, a multimedia projector makes more educational
information available to students. It changes conventional habits and rituals in the classroom. In fact, some survey participants
believe a multimedia projector could soon replace the chalkboard and overhead projector.
Makes teaching easier and better. Instead of having students crowd around a PC, the entire class can view one big screen
without difficulty. The multimedia projector has made the teaching of Internet-related subjects and the demonstration of new
software applications much easier - heightening stu-dents' awareness and expectations, while captivating their attention and
increasing their motivation. The projectors also accommodate the electronic submission and viewing of student work.

Customized curriculum applications. Projectors are being used for a variety of curriculum-specific applications. In language
arts, a teacher linked up to an author's Web site to provide greater insight and impact to a reading assignment. A science
teacher created a PowerPoint presentation to demonstrate a frog dissection. In social studies, a teacher developed a tornado
presentation for increased audio and visual impact. For math classes, projectors have been used to teach students how to
work with spreadsheets, calculate formulas, and utilize charts and graphs. Athletic departments show practice and game films,
as well as illustrate plays, with the ability to pause, reverse and update them spontaneously.