The Standards for Effective Pedagogy and Learning were established through CREDE research, and through an extensive analysis of the research and development literature in education and diversity. The Standards represent recommendations on which the literature is in agreement, across all cultural, racial, and linguistic groups in the United States, all age levels, and all subject matters. Thus, they express the principles of effective pedagogy for all students. Even for mainstream students, the Standards describe the ideal conditions for instruction; but for students at-risk of educational failure, effective classroom implementation of the Standards is vital. The research consensus can be expressed as five standards.
- Joint Productive Activity
Teacher and Students Producing Together - Language Development
Developing Language and Literacy Across the Curriculum - Contextualization
Making Meaning: Connecting School to Students’ Lives - Challenging Activities
Teaching Complex Thinking - Instructional Conversation
Teaching Through Conversation
The Five Standards articulate both philosophical and pragmatic guidelines for effective education. The standards were distilled from findings by educational researchers working with students at risk of educational failure due to cultural, language, racial, geographic, or economic factors.
The Five Standards do not endorse a specific curriculum but, rather, establish principles for best teaching practices. These practices are effective with both majority and minority students in K-16 classrooms across subject matters, curricula, cultures and language groups.
Background on the Five Standards
- Development of Standards
A paper from the director explaining the background and evolution of the Five Standards
Five Standards Tools
- Self-assessment: The Standards Performance Continuum (SPC)
A rubric that can be used to measure the extent and effectiveness of enactment of the Five Standards in the classroom. - Self-assessment for students (pdf)
A one-page chart co-developed with educators from Greenland that enables students to rate their classrooms in terms of the Standards Performance Continuum.