A Guide For Power Standards In Teacher Planning

Power Standards: Finding What Matters Most

Too many standards, not enough days. Power standards help a team decide which learning goals get full instructional weight and repeated practice.

What Are Power Standards

Power standards are the small set of standards a team agrees to teach thoroughly. Doug Reeves’ three prompts help you find them:

  • Endurance: students will still need this next year.
  • Leverage: it shows up across subjects.
  • Readiness: it prepares students for the next course or grade.

Use these as conversation starters in your PLC, not as a rigid scoring formula.

How To Identify Power Standards for Lesson Planning and Curriculum

A typical middle school teacher faces 60 to 70 standards. That pace leaves little time for assessment, feedback, or reteaching. A power standard list trims the set to something teachable, often 8 to 12 per subject per grade.

For a complementary prioritization lens, see TeachThought’s 40/40/40 Rule:

“Of all of the academic standards you are tasked with covering, what’s important that students understand for the next 40 days, what’s important that they understand for the next 40 months, and what’s important that they understand for the next 40 years?”

With a clear set, you can plan units that last weeks, create performance tasks that show transfer, and schedule feedback cycles. In Understanding by Design, this is Stage 1: identify the desired results, then plan evidence and learning experiences that match.

Example 1: ELA Grade 6

Step 1 — Start with the list

  • RL.6.1: Cite textual evidence
  • RL.6.2: Determine theme or central idea
  • RL.6.3: Describe plot and character change
  • RL.6.4: Determine word meaning and figurative language
  • RL.6.5: Analyze how parts of a text fit into the whole
  • RL.6.6: Explain how an author develops point of view

Step 2 — Apply the criteria

Endurance

  • RL.6.1: used across grades and in other subjects.
  • RL.6.2: core to comprehension and interpretation.
  • RL.6.4: language analysis supports reading and writing.

Leverage and Readiness

  • RL.6.1: prepares students for argument writing.
  • RL.6.2: returns in 7th and 8th grade standards.
  • RL.6.4: connects to poetry, speeches, and rhetoric.

Step 3 — Identify the power standards

Power Standard · RL.6.1 Power Standard · RL.6.2 Power Standard · RL.6.4

Step 4 — Plan around them

Priority Assessment Evidence Learning Plan
RL.6.1 Cite textual evidence Literary analysis essay with two quotes per claim; Socratic seminar with cited paraphrases Mini-lessons on quoting and paraphrasing, evidence stems, color-coding claims and support, peer feedback cycles
RL.6.2 Theme and summary Short-response set on theme across three short stories; one-page comparative analysis Think-alouds, theme trackers, quick writes, gallery walk of claim statements, revision of weak claims
RL.6.4 Word meaning and figurative language Annotation portfolio that explains effect of figurative choices in two texts Terminology mini-lessons, sentence combining to imitate style, micro-presentations on author craft

RL.6.3, RL.6.5, and RL.6.6 appear as supporting skills within the same units.

Example 2: Math Grade 6 — Ratios and Rates

Step 1 — Start with the list

  • 6.RP.A.1: Understand ratio concepts and use ratio language
  • 6.RP.A.2: Understand the concept of a unit rate and use rate language
  • 6.RP.A.3a: Make tables of equivalent ratios and plot on a coordinate plane
  • 6.RP.A.3b: Solve unit rate problems, including unit pricing and constant speed
  • 6.RP.A.3c: Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100
  • 6.RP.A.3d: Use ratio reasoning to convert measurement units

Step 2 — Apply the criteria

Endurance

  • 6.RP.A.1: foundation for proportional reasoning.
  • 6.RP.A.2: applies in science, economics, and daily life.
  • 6.RP.A.3b: high-transfer word problems.

Leverage and Readiness

  • 6.RP.A.1 and 6.RP.A.2 support algebra readiness.
  • 6.RP.A.3b prepares students for linear relationships in Grade 7.

Step 3 — Identify the power standards

Power Standard · 6.RP.A.1 Power Standard · 6.RP.A.2 Power Standard · 6.RP.A.3b

Step 4 — Plan around them

Priority Assessment Evidence Learning Plan
6.RP.A.1 Ratio concepts Concept interview with examples and non-examples; exit tickets on ratio language Concrete to visual to symbolic tasks, number line representations, quick error analysis routines
6.RP.A.2 Unit rates Performance task: compare grocery unit prices and write a recommendation Daily warm-ups on rates, table methods, graph matches, reflect and revise after feedback
6.RP.A.3b Solve rate problems Mixed problem set with constant speed, recipe scaling, and cost comparisons Word-problem routines, three reads protocol, partner explanations, spiral review two weeks later

6.RP.A.3a, 3c, and 3d appear inside the same unit and get assessed as supporting skills.

What Changes When You Select Power Standards

Without Power Standards With Power Standards
Two to three days per standard, coverage focus Two to four weeks per priority, mastery focus
Mostly short quizzes At least one performance task per priority
One round of feedback Feedback cycles tied to the same skill
Students cram then forget Students revisit skills across units

UbD Connection

Identify desired results first, then plan evidence, then plan learning. Power standards define the desired results.

Desired Results Assessment Evidence Learning Plan
RL.6.1 Cite evidence
RL.6.2 Theme and summary 		Analysis essay with two cited supports per claim; seminar rubric with citation accuracy Week 1 model and practice, Week 2 short stories and mini-writes, Week 3 draft and peer review, Week 4 revise and publish

PLC Conversation Starters

  • Which 8 to 12 standards would we bet matter most for next year’s success
  • Which appear most often on state assessments or capstone tasks
  • Where do we disagree, and what evidence would settle it
  • What student work will we collect this year to refine the list next year

Pitfalls to Watch

  • Selecting too many and sliding back into coverage mode
  • Picking what is easy to teach or test instead of what is essential
  • Choosing in isolation without vertical alignment across grades

References

  • Reeves, D. (2002). Making Standards Work. Denver: Advanced Learning Press.
  • Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design (Expanded 2nd ed.). ASCD.
  • Marzano, R. J. (2008). Designing & Teaching Learning Goals and Objectives. Marzano Research Laboratory.