In this S5E10 Schoolutions Teaching Strategies conversation, join me with Larry Ainsworth, the pioneer of essential standards work, where he reveals why focusing deeply on fewer standards leads to BETTER assessment results than frantically trying to cover everything. Yes, you read that right: 88% focused teaching outperforms 100% surface-level teaching.
What You'll Learn:
✅ The REAL criteria for identifying essential standards (Readiness, Endurance, Assessment, Leverage)
✅ How to support students with disabilities and multilingual learners with essential standards
✅ Why teachers MUST be involved in selecting essential standards (ownership matters!)
✅ How to scaffold instruction for students reading below grade level while maintaining grade-level expectations
✅ The connection between essential standards and project-based learning, classroom engagement, and student motivation
✅ Why Arizona is now weighting its state assessments toward essential standards
✅ How essential standards save time and guide effective teaching, lesson planning, and instructional strategies
Larry has guided educators for over two decades and helped countless schools create culturally responsive teaching environments with equity in education at the center.
Resources from Larry:
💫Inquiring Minds Want to Know: FAQs About Prioritizing Standards
💫Integrating Teaching & Learning Newsletter & Books
💫Essential Standards: Pathway to Success for All Students Course
CHAPTERS
0:00 - Introduction: The Standards Struggle
0:41 - The 88% Solution: Focus Over Coverage
3:00 - Meet Larry Ainsworth: Pioneer of Essential Standards
5:00 - Defining Essential Standards: Power, Priority, or Essential?
9:00 - The 88% Question: Will Students Fail the Test?
14:00 - Supporting Students with Disabilities with Essential Standards
17:00 - Scaffolding Strategy: Meeting Students Where They Are
19:00 - The REAL Criteria: Readiness, Endurance, Assessment, Leverage
23:00 - Assessment and the State Testing Reality
25:00 - Project-Based Learning and Essential Standards
27:00 - This IS the Unit: Depth Over Breadth
28:00 - Focus Dispels the Illusion of Coverage
30:00 - The Administrator's Role: Coach, Cheerleader, Quarterback
33:00 - Lightning Round: Essential Standards vs. Backward Design
35:00 - State-Level Essential Standards: Good or Undermining?
37:00 - The Spectacular Failure: When Teachers Aren't Involved
39:00 - Final Takeaway: Essential Standards as the Foundation
41:00 - Closing: Resources and Next Steps
Join our community of educators committed to cultivating student success, inspired teaching, and creating inclusive classrooms with a pro-kid mindset focused on the whole child.
📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
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