System Admins can maintain a customized set of curriculum standards and benchmarks using the Standards Editing Tool in Atlas. Users may select the standards to which they are aligning their units, just as they do with other sets of standards in your system.
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Standards Structure (5 Tiers)
Standards are set up in Atlas using a 5‐tier format, Subject, Strand, Grade, Standard, and Benchmark. You must populate all five tiers or your standards will not be visible to users. The names of these 5 tiers can be customized to match your school’s terminology by contacting Atlas Support. The 5th tier (Benchmarks) always contains the items users select for alignment in their unit planners.
Application
Tier 1
Some schools may customize their terminology of Subjects to Content Area, Subject-Matter, or Subject Area, for example.
In the first tab on the left (i.e., in this example Subjects & Strands tab), add or edit tier 1.
Tier 2
Some schools may customize their terminology of Strands to Topics.
In the first tab on the left (in this example Subjects & Strands tab), click the expand icon to view, add or edit tier 2.
Tier 3
Some schools may customize their terminology of grades to Levels or Years.
In the middle tab (in this example, the Grades tab), add or edit tier 3.
Some standards are written for specific grade levels; others may be banded (e.g., 6‐8). Enter the grade levels or bands that match the standards. Users will select this as they locate the Standards for alignment.
Tier 4
Some schools may have customized their terminology of Standards to Goals, Strategies, Subtopics, Outcomes, or Contents.
In the first tab on the right (in this example, Standards, and Benchmarks tab), select the subject and grade for the Standard you will be entering from the drop-down menus. Failure to do this may result in your Standards being listed in the wrong grade.
Grades and Strands in the drop-down menu that have not been starred “*” do not currently have any standards or benchmarks associated with them. When you complete all five tiers, a star will be added to these.
Tier 5
Some schools may have customized their terminology of Benchmarks to Indicators, Knowledge/Skills, Standards, Objectives, Assessment, or Criteria/Aims.
From the Standards and Benchmarks tab, click the arrow to expand tier 4 and add or edit tier 5.
Congratulations!
These Benchmarks are now available for alignment within the Unit Planner. Click the View Standards button to the right corner of your page to view your new standards.
Copy from other Digital Sources
When copying existing Subjects, Strands, or Standards into the Standards Editing Tool in Atlas, we recommend the following steps:
1. Open both the application containing the content you wish to copy from AND your Standards Editing Tool in Atlas.
2. Position the windows side-by-side, so they are both visible on your screen.
3. Follow the instructions for either Copy and Paste or Drag and Drop.
Copy and Paste
- Highlight the portion of the digital content to be copied, press the Ctrl + C keys.
- Place cursor in the Text Box in the Standards Editing Tool and press the Ctrl + V keys on your keyboard to paste a copy of the content to your Standards Editing Tool.
Drag and Drop
- From the document or file containing the content you wish to copy from, highlight the portion you want to copy.
- Left-click the highlighted portion and holding your cursor down, drag the content to the desired category in the Standards Editing Tool.
Flagging "Power" or "Essential" Standards
When Standards are flagged in Atlas, they will appear with an icon next to them. The image below is an example of using flags to indicate Power Standards, but you can use flags to label standards as any number of things.
The Icon that you see above is one option for what the flag can look like, but the flag is entirely customizable, and therefore can be any small image that you wish. We have a selection of flags to choose from, or we can upload a custom image you send us.
To flag standards in the Standards Editing Tool:
- Contact us to build the flag in your Atlas.
- Go to Admin Dashboard > Maintain Benchmarks (Standards Editing Tool)
- In the third tab to the right (Standards and Benchmarks in this example), click the Flag button of the desired benchmark (tier 5 item).
If you have one flag set up in your system, the flag icon will prefix each tier 5 item (benchmark). If you have multiple flags set up in your Atlas, the flag button will be located at the end of each tier 5 item (benchmark). Click the icon or the button to apply the flag.
