What is the Difference between Content Standards and Performance Standards?

Standards can be presented in many ways. You can have content standards, benchmarks, and even performance standards. The first challenge is understanding what each term means. It is difficult to define all the key words without the terms overlapping. Some states have fused all the different types of standards into one, some are still presenting lists of content standards, along with performance standards and benchmarks. It is, therefore, important that we understand the different types of standards so as to differentiate between Content Standards and Performance Standards.

Broad statements that describe specific content areas that groups of students should learn at each grade level are called Content Standards. They define the knowledge within each discipline. For instance, a content standard for 6th grade science students could be, in Earth Science: “Students will understand the effects of the relative positions of the earth, moon and sun.” These standards are also called Curriculum Standards or Subject Standards.

Expectations for instruction, assessment, and student work are called Performance Standards. These incorporate Content Standards and define the level of work that demonstrates achievement of the standards. Performance standards isolate and identify skills needed for problem-solving, reasoning, communicating, and making connections with other information. They provide all constituents with the evidences that students have met the content standards, helping teachers define what level of work is satisfactory.

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Discuss Here: How can we set Content Standards and Performance Standards in the classroom?