English Language Arts Standards

by James Jobbins

I started Studio Education with my wife Sarah back in 2013.  

We sat in our apartment on Hongmei Lu in Shanghai and talked about education and schooling. 

Sarah and I had both tutored in Shanghai, and we had worked in a Chinese school with a fascinating challenge to deliver a kind of blended international education in China. 

During that time we had got to know lots of families. We got to know their concerns and hopes and we got to know their educational interests and aspirations. 

When we decided to try to serve those aspirations - starting with me teaching writing and literature at the weekends in an old but beautifully sunlit room on Chengjiaqiao Zhi Lu - and calling it 'studio' (then with a lower case 's', and with the added exhortation, 'Think More') - I knew that the first thing I had to do was to be clear about what the lessons would strive to be and to do.

The first big challenge was to distinguish between English as an additional language and English as a school subject, as it is taught at its best in the UK, the US, and in other native English-speaking counties.

In the USA, the school subject is commonly called English Language Arts; in the UK it's called English Language and Literature - or just 'English'. 

My expertise is in English as taught in native English-speaking countries.

And that is what I set out to teach at the weekends.

To avoid confusion, I set out to share some good standards that would help parents see that Studio Education, as it came to be called, would not be thinking in terms of word lists and grammar exercises and contextual units of thematic vocabulary - the things that make up the curriculums of English as a second language.

I found a very good - and helpfully very concise - set of standards from the USA. They can be seen in full below. 

They stand the test of time as a good overview of the attributes I hope Studio's students will develop.

 

The introduction below is the one I wrote back in 2013. Remarkably, I am happy to say that despite the passage of the last nearly four years I stand by every word. 

Further, I would like to take this chance to emphasise that Studio has developed - with the intelligence and enthusiasm of remarkable colleagues - way beyond my own personal expertise of English literature to a remarkable set of courses from philosophy to mathematics, from computer coding to anthropology, from ancient history to drama.

But everywhere, across the range of education we deliver, you will find these same humanising activities: interpret, evaluate (No. 3); create, critique, and discuss (No. 6); evaluate, and synthesize (No. 7); synthesise and create (No. 8); and (become) reflective, creative, and critical members of … communities (No. 11).

English Language Arts Standards

Introduction

The following standards are adapted from The Standards for the English Language Arts by the US National Council of Teachers of English and International Reading Association, first published in 1996 and reaffirmed in November 2012.

 

This set of twelve standards provides an excellent summary of the essential elements of a contemporary English Language Arts program for all students from kindergarten to university entrance. While these standards originate in America, they point to the breadth and depth of great education in literature, composition, and the use of spoken English, for the study of English anywhere in the world. In particular, they explicitly reference and emphasize Education 3.0 activities: interpret, evaluate (No. 3); create, critique, and discuss (No. 6); evaluate, and synthesize (No. 7); synthesize and create (No. 8); reflective, creative, and critical members of … communities (No. 11).

Parents should be familiar with these standards so that they can better understand the focus and emphasis of Studio Education. Comments written by teachers about a child’s performance will be written broadly in line with these standards, so familiarity with these standards will help a parent to understand why the teacher is commenting on one attribute over another. For example, a child’s ability to generate ideas and pose questions (No. 7) is prioritized over learning the definitions of a list of new words or being able to write a long, but less insightful, passage.

While the standards should not be used as reductive tick boxes, to measure and record whether a student has achieved a new skill, they can be used as a guide to help parents encourage and support children in making progress towards intellectual and creative development.

The Standards

1
Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the English-speaking world in particular and of the world in general; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfilment. Amongst these texts are fiction and non-fiction, classic and contemporary works.

2
Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.

3
Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

4
Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes. 

5
Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

6
Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling andpunctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.

7
Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and byposing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

8
Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

9
Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.

10
Students whose first language is not English make use of their first language to develop competency in the English language arts and to develop understanding of content across the curriculum.

11
Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

12
Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

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