Standards in Early Childhood

Running Head : STANDARDS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Arizona Academic Standards as Applied

in a Curriculum for Early Childhood Education

[NAME OF CUSTOMER]

[NAME OF UNIVERSITY]

[NAME OF PROFESSOR]

[COURSE REQUIRING THIS ]

Abstract

This reflects on the consequence of teaching standards on the effectiveness of the teacher in the classroom . Educational standards are regulated by different educational authorities such as the state , the school board , and other educational institutions promoting acceptable levels of instruction for professionals . The setting of standards of excellence and output regulates the quality

of education benefited from by students , thus serving to raise the bar of literacy in the community as a whole . However the ramifications that such control has on the actual teaching environment instructors are faced with is not considered . Of particular focus is the effect of the Arizona Academic Standard on the kindergarten classroom . The theoretical and planning stage of curriculum making is a vacuum not able to fully comprehend all factors able to affect the definite situations inside a classroom . Thus the same are analyzed herein to ascertain their influence on kindergarten level instruction

Arizona Academic Standards as Applied in a Curriculum for Early Childhood Education

The Arizona Academic Standards list of expected standards is a comprehensive list of several fields of study for different age grades It included a separate undertaking of the kindergarten standards laid down for early childhood educators . This was of particular use as opposed to other standards wherein grade levels were lumped per group Such approach proved impractical as at times kindergarten standards were included in a set with up to fourth grade level standards . Certainly such lumped together standards could not accurately address the disparity in skills and capacity of the students enrolled in these different grades . Arizona thus presents a more comprehensive and practical standard of instruction

The Department of Education presented the Arizona standard using content standards to communicate their expectations of classroom progress Content standards delineate what students are expected to know and do as opposed to performance standards which indicate assessment as to the extent with which content standards have been achieved (Kendall , 2003 The Arizona standard enumerated extensive content standards with which to gauge the appropriateness of curricula developed for the different scopes of education at the kindergarten level . The attention given to the different areas of study was noteworthy as there was an observed attempt to satisfy the needs of each subject . Such a detailed approach allowed for the easy tracking of classroom performance on whether or not the standards were being met . Furthermore , in certain areas , such as the arts , there was such a detailed discussion as to the content standards prescribed that the curriculum to be utilized would only have to be elaborated on the manner of actual application . In other areas , such as health , there were also significant guidelines placed to ensure that teachers were able to grasp not only the expected capacities of their students after the year but also their responsibilities to the parents...