The Illinois
State Goals for Learning
Language Arts
The skills and knowledge of
the language arts are essential for student success in virtually all areas of
the curriculum. They are also a central requirement for the development of
clear expression arid critical thinking. The language arts include the study of
literature and the development of skills in reading, writing, speaking, and
listening.
As a result of their
schooling, students will be able to:
- read, comprehend, interpret, evaluate and use
written material;
- listen critically and analytically;
- write standard English in a grammatical,
well-organized and coherent mariner for a variety of purposes;
- use spoken language effectively in formal and
informal situations to communicate ideas and information and to ask and
answer questions;
- understand the various forms of significant
literature representative
- of different cultures, eras and ideas;
- understand how and why language functions and
evolves.
Mathematics
Mathematics provides
essential problem-solving tools applicable to a range of scientific
disciplines, business, and everyday situations. Matlrematics is the language of
quantification anrl logic; its elements are symbols, structures, and shapes. It
enables people to understand and use facts, definitions, aiid symbols iii a
coherent and systematic way in order to reason deductively and to solve problem.
As a result of their
schooling, students will be able to:
- perform the computations)ns of addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division using whole numbers, integers,
fractions and decimals;
- understand and use ratios and percentages;
- make and use measurements, including those of area
and volume;
- identify, analyze arid solve prrrbloms using
algebraic equations, inequalities, functions and their graphs;
- understand and apply geometric concepts and
relations in a variety of forms;
- understand and use methods of data collection and
analysis, including tables, charts arid comparisons; use mathematical
skills to estimate, approximate arid predict outcomes and to judge
reasonableness of results.
Physical
Development and Health
Effective human functioning
depends upon optimum physical develop merit and health. Education for physical
development and health provides students with the knowledge and attitudes to
achieve healthful living throughout their lives arid to acquire physical
fitness, coordination and leisure skills.
As a result of their
schooling, students will be able to:
- understand the physical development, structure and
functions of the human body;
- understand principles of nutrition, exercise,
efficient management of emotional stress, positive self-concept
development, and use and abuse, and the intervention and treatment of
illness;
- understand consumer health and safety, including
environmental health;
- demonstrate basic skills and
physical fitness necessary to participate in a variety of conditioning
exercises or leisure activities such h as sports and dance;
- plan a personal physical fitness and health
l)program; perform a variety of complex motor activities;
- demonstrate a variety of basic
life-saving activities
Biological and
Physical Sciences
Science is the quest for
objective truth. It provides a conceptual framework and the understanding of
natural phenomena and their causes and effects The purposes of the study of
science are to develop students who are scientifically literate, recognize that
science is not value-free, are capable of making ethical judgments regarding
science and social issues, and understand that technological growth is an
outcome of the scientific enterprise.
As a result of their
schooling, students will have a working knowledge of:
- the concepts and basic vocabulary of biological,
physical and environmental sciences and their application to life and work
in contemporary technological society;
- the social and environmental implications and
limitations of technological development;
- the principles of scientific research and their
application in simpIe research projects;
- the processes, techniques, methods, equipment and
available technology of science.
Social Sciences
Social sciences provide
students with an understanding of themselves and of
society, prepare them for citizenship in a democracy, and give them the basics
for understanding the complexity of the world community. Study of the
humanities, of which social sciences are a part, is necessary in order to
preserve the values of human dignity, justice, arid representative processes.
Social sciences include anthropology, economics, geography, government,
history, philosophy, political science, psychology and sociology.
As a result of their
schooling, students will able to:
- understand and analyze comparative political arid
economic systems, with an emphasis on the political and economic systems
of the United States;
- understand and analyze events, trends, personalities,
and movements shaping the history of the world, the United States ,and
Illinois;
- demonstrate a knowledge of the
basic concepts of the social sciences and how these help to interpret
human behavior;
- demonstrate a knowledge of world
geography with emphasis on that of the United States;
- apply the skills and knowledge gained in the social
sciences t9 decision making in life situations.
Fine Arts
The fine arts give students
the mearrs to express themselves creatively and to respond1iond to the artistic
expression of others. As a record of human experience, the fine arts provide
distinctive ways of understanding society, history and nature. The study of
fine arts includes visual art, music, drama and dance.
As a result of their
schooling, students will be able to:
- understand the principal sensory, formal,
technical and expressive qualities of each of the arts;
- identify processes and tools required to produce
visual art, music, drama and dance;
- demonstrate the basic skills
necessary to participate in the creation and/or performance of one of the
arts;
- identify significant works in the arts from
major historical periords and how they reflect societies, cultures and
civilizations, past and present;
- describe the unique characteristics teristics of
each of the arts.
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