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TO:	Members, Indiana Professional Standards Board
FROM:	Dave Kinman, Coordinator/Editor, Comprehensive Standards Advisory Group
DATE:	June 17, 1999
SUBJECT:	Presentation of Comprehensive Standards Document

By spring 1998, the Indiana Professional Standards Board (IPSB) completed a multi-year effort to redesign the standards for preparation and licensure of education professionals. During its May 1998 meeting, the Board appointed an editor for the Comprehensive Standards Advisory Group (CSDAG) that would be established in fall 1998. The charge of the CSDAG was to develop a comprehensive standards document from 17 sets of approved standards. Specifically, the document would: 1) show how the standards do/do not address diversity, reading, exceptional needs, and technology, 2) demonstrate alignment with K-12 proficiencies, 3) reflect emphasis on content through alignment with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) specialty standards, and 4) include a glossary for the standards document. The CSDAG began its work in January 1999, and finalized the enclosed Comprehensive Standards Document (CSD) for Board discussion at the June 17, 1999, meeting.

The CSD is presented in five sections. The sections are: 1) School Setting Documents, 2) Identification of Themes throughout the Standards, 3) Alignment Report - Parts I & II, 4) Unifying Themes Report, and 5) Comprehensive Glossary. The charge is referenced, and some notes and recommendations are included.

1) School Setting Documents

CSDAG Charge: Work with the Standards Coordinator/Editor to prepare the comprehensive standards document from the 17 sets of approved standards.

Note: The documents for school settings, listed on the next page, illustrate overall alignment with the proposed licensure framework. Each set includes the developmental level standards appropriate for the given school setting and corresponding subject matter, as lifted from the original content standards. The intent of the CSDAG in creating these five sets of documents, which comprise an integral part of the CSD is to simplify and consolidate information that a prospective student, a preservice teacher, a current teacher, or an institutional representative might use to clarify requirements under Indiana's new performance- based system for preparation and licensure of education professionals. In no way should these documents be used to replace the original advisory group standards for any development level or content area.   A. Standards for Teachers of Early Childhood for the Preschool School Setting (Pre-Kindergarten)  B. Standards for Teachers of Early Childhood for the Elementary: Primary School Setting (Begins with Kindergarten.)  C. Standards for Teachers of Middle Childhood for the Elementary: Intermediate School Setting  D. Standards for Early Adolescence Generalist Teachers for the Middle School/Junior High School Setting  E. Standards for Teachers of Adolescence and Young Adulthood for the High School Setting

Recommendations
The CSDAG recommends that:

1.	the content deemed appropriate by the original content advisory groups (Part II of each document) for each developmental level be edited or revised as necessary to result in a consistent, performance-based format.
2.	the Standards Committee consider the feasibility of undertaking this task.

2) Identification of Themes Throughout the Standards

CSDAG Charge: Work with the Standards Coordinator/Editor to identify themes across the standards to specifically include diversity, reading, exceptional needs, and technology.

Note: This document has been compiled at the request of the IPSB through the revised CSDAG charge. The themes identified in the revised charge are clearly present throughout the document. The CSDAG also included reference to the area of Gifted and Talented (which was discussed in a March 1999 report to the Board).

Recommendation
The CSDAG recommends that:

in order to make expectations clear and hold stakeholders accountable for integration of the five themes: diversity, reading, exceptional needs, technology, and gifted and talented, the IPSB should charge the Standards Committee with developing a Standard for Integration of Themes (as listed above) across the standards, for all teachers at all levels.

3) Alignment Report

Part I:	Indiana Developmental and Content Standards and National Specialty Standards
Part II:	IPSB Standards and Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) Essential Skills and Content Proficiencies

CSDAG Charge: Work with the Standards Coordinator/Editor to identify relationships between the Indiana developmental and content standards and Indiana essential skills and content proficiencies, and to identify relationships between the Indiana developmental and content standards and national specialty standards recognized by NCATE.

Note: The Alignment Report is one of the most significant documents produced by CSDAG. The national conversation concerning standards development generally does not include alignment among the P-12 levels, national professional organizations and speciality groups, and approved state standards for education professionals. Indiana may be the first to align standards throughout the education continuum.

4) Unifying Themes Report

CSDAG Charge: Work with the Standards Coordinator/Editor to identify areas of commonality across standards and their performances for teacher preparation program designers.

Note: The CSDAG identified the following eight unifying themes across the developmental levels: 1. Content (Core Knowledge);  2. Growth and Development, Learning Environment;  3. Curriculum;   4. Instruction;  5. Assessment;  6.  Professionalism;  7. Building Family and Community Environments; and  8. Field Experience.

This document should be useful for institutions planning programs involving multiple developmental levels.

5) Comprehensive Glossary

CSDAG Charge: Work with the Standards Coordinator/Editor to develop a glossary for the standards document.

Note: The comprehensive glossary has been compiled according to the CSDAG charge. The glossary may be useful for bringing together the language of the various advisory groups and unifying the document.

Recommendation
The CSDAG recommends that:

the Standards Committee review the glossary for terms that are defined differently by the original advisory groups. The CSDAG included all repeated definitions, referencing them by the content area or developmental level in which they were originally used.

In September 1999, the CSDAG will bring back the Comprehensive Standards Document and the four recommendations presented in this memorandum for Board approval. The CSDAG is requesting permission to conduct an editing session following the June 17 Board meeting to make necessary changes relative to the Board's direction.

Enclosure: The Comprehensive Standards Document