BONUS: Drowning in Standards? How to Cut Back to What Matters MOST

In this S5E10 Schoolutions Teaching Strategies BONUS, I break down the Essential Standards Framework from Larry Ainsworth that completely transformed my teaching—and can transform yours too. Stop drowning in standards and start teaching what actually matters.

🎯 The Game-Changer: Research shows students who master 88% of standards perform BETTER on tests than those who skim through 100%. This episode gives you three actionable insights from my conversation with Larry that you can implement Monday morning.

What You'll Learn:
✅ How the 88% solution frees you from coverage panic and improves student success
✅ A breakthrough approach for special education that maintains rigor while ensuring access (7th-grade thinking with 3rd-grade texts!)
✅ How to transform performance tasks from extra work to THE work
✅ The R-E-A-L criteria framework to identify your own essential standards (even if your district hasn't done this work)

Key Topics Covered:
- Overcoming teacher test anxiety through focused instruction and lesson planning
- Using the R-E-A-L criteria: Readiness, Endurance, Assessment, Leverage
- Maintaining rigor for students with disabilities and multilingual learners through inclusive teaching
- Replacing traditional instruction with authentic performance tasks that drive student engagement and active learning
- Creating clarity for student success and thriving students

This isn't about lowering expectations—it's about raising achievement through innovative teaching and a pro-kid mindset. Stop covering content and start uncovering what your students truly need with these practical teaching tips and instructional coaching insights.

Chapters
0:00 - Introduction: The Essential Standards Framework
1:00 - The 88% Solution: Why Less Coverage = Better Results
3:00 - Teacher Test Anxiety & the R-E-A-L Criteria Framework
5:00 - Monday Move: Identifying Your Essential Standards
6:00 - Game-Changer for Special Education & Multilingual Learners
7:00 - The Formula: Grade-Level Thinking with Accessible Texts
8:00 - Performance Tasks: Replacement Work, Not Extra Work
9:00 - Authentic Learning Examples (Instagram Profiles, Podcasts, Community Gardens)
10:00 - Your Practical Roadmap: Where to Start
12:00 - The Power of Clarity in Teaching
13:00 - Challenge: Use the REAL Criteria This Week
14:00 - Final Invitation & Closing Thoughts

🚀📚 Watch the full S5E10  ⁨@schoolutionspodcast⁩ interview here.

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. 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.

📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com 
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

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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.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome back to Schoolutions Teaching Strategies. This is a bonus episode. It's an accompaniment to my conversation with Larry Ainsworth. His episode Season 5, episode 10 is called, Less Is More: Rethinking Essential Standards for Deeper Learning. If you have not listened to that episode yet, it's right below this one.

Pause this bonus content, take in Larry's insights and then come back. I've leaned on Larry and his work for a very long time. So today, I thought it'd be helpful to dive into something that completely shifted my approach to teaching years ago, what I'll refer to in this episode as the Essential Standards Framework.

So here was the game changer for me. Research shows that students who master 88% of the standards performed better on the test than those who skimmed through 100%. So today I am sharing three insights from my conversation with Larry Ainsworth [00:01:00] that you can implement Monday morning. First, how the 88% solution can free you from coverage panic. Second, a game changing approach for special education that maintains rigor while ensuring access. And third, how to transform performance tasks from extra work to the work. Plus, I'll give you a simple roadmap to identify your own essential standards even if your district hasn't done this work yet. If you've ever felt like you're drowning in a sea of standards, today's bonus episode is your life raft. Let's stop the frantic coverage and start the focused learning.

This is Schoolutions Teaching Strategies, the podcast that extends education beyond the classroom. A show that isn't just theory, but practical try-it-tomorrow approaches for educators [00:02:00] and caregivers to ensure every student finds their spark and receives the support they need to thrive.  

Welcome back to this Friday's bonus episode of Schoolutions Teaching Strategies. I'm Olivia Wahl, and I've been sitting with Larry Ainsworth's wisdom all week and since I interviewed him, and I have to tell you, that conversation with Larry just validated for me that less is more, especially when it comes to curriculum design. It was that moment when the biology teacher told Larry her students performed far better on the unit test when she replaced traditional instruction with engaging performance tasks built on essential standards - not on top of instruction, remember, not in addition to it, but the tasks were the instruction. So today I'm going to unpack three game-changing insights from our conversation that you can implement Monday morning.

And I'll revisit the [00:03:00] simple framework that you can use to start identifying your own essential standards, even if your district hasn't done this work yet. So let's start with test anxiety, not student test anxiety. Teacher test anxiety. Remember when Larry shared his conversation with Douglas Reeves? Doug's research shows that focusing deeply on 88% of the standards leads to better test results than frantically covering 100%. But I need to pause because I'm speaking to test and test anxiety, but I don't teach for a test.

I show up every day for kids to make sure that they [00:04:00] are learning and that what I'm teaching is sticking, that it's building on the shoulders of the years of their education before they walked into my classroom, and that I'm getting them ready for the upcoming years ahead. I will say though, that when I identified my essential standards using the REAL or real criteria, remember that readiness for the next level, endurance for life, assessment emphasis and leverage across content areas. I was able to narrow 42 standards of my fifth grade curriculum down to 12 essentials. And I will say what happened was my students' test scores went up, but more importantly, they actually retained what they learned.

The following year, their sixth grade teachers asked me, what did you do differently? The kids remembered and retained all of the work that we had done that year for the most part. And the [00:05:00] truth is I taught less, but they learned more because depth beats breadth every single time. 

So here's a possible Monday move for you. Pick one upcoming unit, just one. Look at all the standards you're supposed to cover and teach and ask yourself, which of these will my students absolutely need for next year? Which will they use in life, which show up repeatedly on assessments and which connect to other subjects? Those are your essentials. You could start there. 

Now let's talk about something that made me want to stand up and cheer during my conversation with Larry. The example and framework he offered for selecting essential standards for students with disabilities and multilingual learners was, I think, extraordinarily helpful. I specifically asked him, what if you have a seventh grade student that is reading at a third grade level?[00:06:00] 

What would be the traditional approach that we would normally experience? Potentially that student may have the seventh grade standards watered down until they're unrecognizable. But Larry's approach? He said, keep the seventh grade thinking with third grade texts. He gave this beautiful formula: Remember, 60 to 70% of instructional time on foundational skills where the student currently is, and then 30 to 40% on modified grade level essential standards.

Same rigorous thinking, accessible texts. For special educators listening. Here's a potential framework. First, identify the grade level essential standard. Then identify the foundational skill gap. You could create an IEP goal that addresses the gap while maintaining grade level thinking expectations. Finally, use those adapted materials that allow access to complex [00:07:00] thinking. This isn't about making it easier, it's about making it possible. 

When I first learned about culminating projects for every standard. I thought it was crazy because I didn't have time for that. So I asked Larry specifically, does every central standard have to have a culminating project to show understanding and he clarified something crucial after replying, No. You don't need a massive project for every standard. You need a strategic, targeted task that is the learning. Not in addition to it. So here's what shifted for me. I stopped thinking of performance tasks as extra work and started seeing them as replacement work. So instead of worksheet packets about character analysis, your students could create character Instagram profiles.

Instead of grammar [00:08:00] exercises, your students could be part of a grammar study and edit real letters to the principal about school issues they care about. Same standards, same learning, completely different level of engagement. So here's my challenge to you: choose a unit of study. It could be your favorite one. It could be one that challenges you. And think about what hands-on minds on task could replace, not supplement your traditional instruction. How could students learn the essential standards by doing something authentic? Maybe it's creating a podcast about the Revolutionary War instead of writing an essay. Maybe it's designing a community garden to learn area and perimeter instead of solving worksheet problems.

The key is this, the task teaches the standard. The standard drives the task. They're not separate things. And [00:09:00] before we wrap up, I want to give you a practical roadmap because I know you're thinking that sounds great, but where do I start? First, remember what Larry said about teacher involvement. This can't be top down. If your district hasn't identified essential standards, start with your grade level or department team. Even if it's just you and one colleague over coffee. Second, use the real criteria religiously. Every standard you consider essential should pass all four tests, not just one. This keeps you objective when you want to include your favorite unit, that if you're honest, it doesn't really prepare kids for anything except appreciating what you love.

Third, start small. One unit, one quarter, one subject area. Please don't try to revise your entire curriculum overnight. I'll never forget what Dr. Guskey [00:10:00] told Larry: A good idea, poorly implemented is a bad idea. Fourth, and this is crucial, involve your students. Once you've identified your essential standards for a unit, share them with your kids. You could write them in student friendly language, then post them, reference them. Let students track their own progress toward mastering them. This will help them become partners in their learning instead of passengers. And I'll leave you with what I keep coming back to from my conversation with Larry.

Essential standards aren't about doing less. They're about doing better. When you have clarity about what truly matters, everything changes. Your instruction becomes focused. Your assessments become meaningful. Your students understand the target, parents know how to help, and you, you stop drowning in the sea of standards and you feel like you're actually [00:11:00] teaching instead of covering.

Larry said essential standards provide the foundation for quality units of study, but I think they provide something even more. They provide sanity in an insane system. They provide clarity in chaos. They provide a path when you feel lost in the forest of too many standards and not enough time, and remember this, you're not eliminating the other standards.

You're prioritizing what's essential. The supporting standards are still there, building that stairway to help students reach those essential goals. Thank you for joining me for this bonus episode. Remember focusing on what's essential isn't about lowering expectations. It's about raising achievement.

Stop covering, start uncovering what your students need to truly succeed. Join me on Monday with the wonderful Mona Iehl [00:12:00] talking about her Word Problem Workshop. Until then, I will remind you that clarity isn't just powerful, it's essential. Take care. 

Schoolutions Teaching Strategies is created, produced, and edited by me, Olivia Wahl. Thank you to my older son Benjamin, who created the music playing in the background. You can follow and listen to Scions wherever you get your podcasts or subscribe to never miss an episode and watch on YouTube. Here's what I hope you remember as you head into your classroom Monday morning.

Essential standards aren't about doing less. They're about doing better. When you have clarity about what truly matters, everything changes. Your instruction becomes focused, your assessments become meaningful. Your students understand the target. So here's your challenge. For this upcoming week, prin t out your standards for your next unit.

Get out four [00:13:00] different colored highlighters for the REAL criteria. Readiness, endurance assessment and leverage. Be ruthless. Be honest. What do your students really need? Then when you're ready, walk into your classroom with clarity. Teach those essential standards like they're the only things that matter.

Meet with a colleague. See if their essential standards are similar for that unit. And then here's my invitation. Send me an email at schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com and tell me which essential standard you're tackling first. Share your wins, your struggles, your questions, because we're in this together, remember focusing on what's essential isn't about lowering expectations.

It's about raising student success. Stop covering and start uncovering what your students truly need to succeed. And don't forget to tune in every Monday for the best research-backed [00:14:00] coaching and teaching strategies that you can apply right away to better the lives of the children in your care. Stay tuned for my bonus episodes every Friday where I'll reflect and share connections to what I learned from the guest that week. See you then.