Starting With Goals: Judith Shapero, Cindy Reich, and Aviva Silverman

Now in its third decade, the Jewish Day School Standards and Benchmarks initiative at the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education has redefined professional development for Jewish studies professionals in nearly 100 schools—and transformed the teaching and learning of Jewish sacred texts for hundreds of educators and thousands of students.

In the late 1990s, as more Jewish day schools were opened across the denominational spectrum, former William Davidson Dean Dr. Steve Brown secured funding from the AVI CHAI Foundation to create a project of standards and benchmarks that focused on Bible. The goal was to help elevate the teaching of Bible and the ability of faculty to think more clearly about goals, methods, and outcomes assessment.

A group of serious Jewish educational leaders and William Davidson School faculty members came together for a roundtable at JTS to address a direct question: what does a day school graduate need to know and to be able to do?

“There were so many things that people started to be aware of,” said Aviva Silverman, who serves as field operations director of Standards and Benchmarks. “Day schools were really actively trying to gain accreditation from independent school agencies, and the process asked them to consider just these kinds of questions.” 

As school leaders were influenced by independent school best practices and responded to the sophisticated perspective of parents and philanthropists alike, phrases like “mission-driven” found their way into school taglines and logos. “People started to question if we were doing what we said we were doing,” recalled Silverman.

At the time, with the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act drawing more than its share of criticism, even the word “standards” raised eyebrows. “Why would we take on an idea—standards—that was so problematic in general education?” said Cindy Reich, academic director of Standards and Benchmarks. “We made it very clear that ‘standards’ did not mean ‘standardization,’” said Reich. “Instead, Standards and Benchmarks is a tool for schools to use to concretize their mission and vision. The use of the term ‘standard’ is not about making everyone conform but rather the articulation of a broad learning goal and a vision for what your graduates will look like.”

Charlotte Abramson, who held senior educational positions at Hillel Day school in Michigan and Golda Och Academy in West Orange, New Jersey, was the founding director of Standards and Benchmarks and directed the crafting of the first Tanakh Standards and Benchmarks document in 2003. She knew that handing teachers a list was not enough, and she proposed a systematic program of professional development that would train both Judaic studies leaders and educators to use the standards for effective teaching and learning. 

Standards and Benchmarks is a process whereby school leaders start from what has already been articulated as their goals and explore how what happens in the classroom can get them closer to those goals. “We are working with a system of professional development that begins with the school’s mission,” said Silverman. “We are never offering a scripted curriculum. This makes us really different from what is out there.”

While the specifics of the program have evolved over the past 20 years, consistent elements include intensive professional development for Judaic studies leaders, along with regular coaching from a consultant and professional learning workshops for teachers in schools. Reich said, “From the beginning, the professional development has operated on two related levels—for the Judaic studies leader and the teachers. This builds the capacity for schools to support and sustain ongoing learning. It is incredible to see what can happen when you are able to support a school and its leaders to set conditions so learning can happen over a long period of time.”

When Judith Shapero, who is a consultant, head of educational technology, and a member of the leadership team at Standards and Benchmarks, first learned about the initiative, she was vice principal for Judaic studies at TanenbaumCHAT in Toronto. “I went into administration to bring the teacher’s perspective to the leadership level,” she said. “I knew I wanted to enhance curriculum, student engagement, and collaboration among faculty. We were looking for this.”

Once a school engages in the Standards and Benchmark process, they choose one or two standards that align with their school vision. Selecting from a “menu” rather than starting from scratch to identify their goals has proven a benefit, according to Shapero. “Starting with tried and true structures in place gives Judaic studies leaders a sense of relief that is passed on to their staff.” Below are examples of two standards:

Tanakh Standard 8: 

Students will develop a love of Torah study for its own sake and embrace it as an inspiring resource, informing their values, moral commitments, and ways of experiencing the world.

Rabbinics Standard: Textual Access

Students will develop the skills to read, navigate and comprehend a variety of genres of rabbinic literature, fostering the ability to understand rabbinic text independently.

The process of standards-based “backward curriculum design” starts with articulating goals and assessments first and then planning instruction that supports students in engaging with sacred texts and drawing meaning from them. “Instead of asking students questions on a test about a text, you might engage them in a real task that requires higher-order thinking such as imagining they are a reporter interviewing Adam and Eve or redesigning a school auditorium to make it more inclusive,” said Shapero.

“Standards and Benchmarks works as well as it does because it focuses on improving the learning of students,” said Reich. “It leverages the collaborative faculty culture where teachers bring their experience at the same time that an outsider brings expertise and creates structure.” Research has shown that effective professional development is job-embedded and ongoing, she added. 

The program also requires that schools carve out time for instructionally focused conversations, to do the really important work that everyone wants to do. “The one-off ‘spray and pray’ teacher trainings are just not in our lexicon,” said Silverman. Schools generally work with Standards and Benchmarks for one or two years. “For learning to become embedded, it takes time,” said Silverman.

Designed and developed at The William Davidson School, Standards and Benchmarks exemplifies field-university partnership. JTS faculty from the departments of Bible and Talmud contributed to the articulation of the standards, and regular dialogue among William Davidson School field-based and academic programs has led to interactions that empower and expand ongoing learning and relevance. 

Last summer, the connection was made tangible when the administration asked the Standards and Benchmarks team to create an online asynchronous course, Teaching and Learning Sacred Texts with Standards-Based Curriculum Design. William Davidson School graduate students across disciplines had the chance to access Standards and Benchmarks as a practical tool. “We learned that our work, which has always been directed to Jewish day schools, can make an impact on educators in other settings such as camp, early childhood, supplemental education, and youth work,” said Reich. “This broadened our own understanding about the applicability of Standards and Benchmarks,” said Shapero.

Standards and Benchmarks was recently asked by the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge (JEIC) to join a consortium of professional development providers for day school teachers. In the DEEP (Developing Embedded Expertise in JDS Program) consortium, Standards and Benchmarks is recognized as one of the leading providers of professional development. 

“As our name has spread,” said Reich, “schools from across the denominational spectrum have reached out to use Standards and Benchmarks. Our work with schools of all types helps us learn more and more from the field about what makes professional development work.” Reich points to the atmosphere of collaboration and commitment of school leadership as well as the willingness on the part of leaders and educators to grow. Silverman echoes the values of patience, consistency, and follow-through. 

“We are really about developing a cadre of learners in a school—not just students, but leaders and teachers, too,” said Silverman. 

Written by Suzanne Kling Langman