The Standards-Based Classroom (ePub)

Emily Rinkema is currently an instructional coach in the Champlain Valley School District (CVSD) in Vermont, spending half of her time supporting standards-based instruction and learning at the high school and the other half supporting the middle schools in their transition to standards- based learning (SBL). She also code- signed and coteaches Think Tank, a class that puts high school students at the center of the educational transformation happening around them. Emily began teaching English and humanities at Champlain Valley Union High School twenty years ago and was inspired by the progressive philosophy of the school and community from the start. While teaming with Stan Williams in a heterogeneous tenth-grade humanities class, they became obsessed with differentiated instruction and SBL, applied for a sabbatical, and began down the path that would lead to instructional coaching. Emily is the cofounder of the Vermont Standards-Based Learning (VTSBL) Collective, a grassroots organization that brings together educators interested in improving education through SBL. She has organized, led, and participated in the annual symposium sponsored by the VTSBL Collective and has presented about SBL at schools around Vermont and at the 2018 ASCD Empower18 Conference. Emily has a master’s degree in English from the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College and is still involved with the Bread Loaf Teacher Network and, along with Stan, is very active professionally on social media through @ CVULearns.

Stan Williams has taught and worked in the Champlain Valley School District (CVSD) in Vermont for over twenty years. He is currently an instructional coach for the district and spends his time supporting standards-based learning (SBL) and instruction at the high school and the four district middle schools. Besides his work as an instructional coach, Stan co-teaches a class called Think Tank, which has students