What Are Standards of the Heart? Standards of the heart help children become caring, contributing, productive and responsible citizens. Schools that foster standards of the heart have high expectations for students' behavior. They planfully provide a variety of curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities that build strong personal and interpersonal skills. The result is a school climate where all students feel safe and valued. (more) How Can Standards of the Heart Be Assessed? Before the development of standards of the heart can be assessed, a school must come to consensus about what character traits it is trying to foster in students. These character traits, or core values are the basis for all decisions regarding strategies to implement as well as what indicates success. School staff who plan to assess how well students are developing standards of the heart must be very clear about what behaviors students will demonstrate if they are modeling core values. Without such behavioral benchmarks, no meaningful assessment can be done. Assessing standards of the heart is different from assessing student achievement of academic standards. Some argue it can't be done as it is too subjective and intangible. In fact it can be assessed and is currently a part of many progress or other reports schools send to parents. Historically many aspects of standards of the heart were captured in report cards under the heading of Citizenship, Conduct or Work Habits. They included indicators such as Works well with others; Respects rights of others; Uses time appropriately. Hayward 3rd Grade Progress Report, Acrobat, 27k Chicago Public Schools Report Card, Acrobat, 94k However, these components of progress reports are often discretionary and the standard for what is satisfactory or unsatisfactory varies from teacher to teacher. This planning tool aims to help school staff set consistent benchmarks and standards for behavior across the school.

', Go to:DPI Home WINSS Home Standards and Assessment --- What are our academic standards? --- What are standards of the heart? --- What indicates success in academic standards? --- What indicates success in standards of the heart? Data Analysis --- How are students performing academically? --- What programs, staff and money are available? --- What about attendance and behavior? --- What are student demographics? Continuous School Improvement --- What makes a successful school? --- How can we improve? --- Where can we find planning tools? --- Who should be involved in improvement? Best Practices --- Vision --- Evidence of success --- High academic standards --- Family, school and community partnerships --- Standards of the heart --- Professional development --- Leadership Site Map Site Search feedback