The NAD Elementary English Language Arts Standards provide the framework for curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices found in Pathways 2.0. This shift to standards-based teaching and learning ensures that all teachers and students adhere to developmentally appropriate, yet rigorous, expectations.

These standards were developed by a NAD curriculum committee which studied educational research, state standards, and learning goals articulated by professional subject organizations. In addition, the committee included standards that reflect the Adventist worldview. The standards define the literacy areas of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language taught in Adventist schools which give educators consistent literacy learning goals throughout the NAD.

Adventist education has always been about “something better,” something more than meeting baseline expectations for student learning. Standards for student learning facilitate the integral nature of the faith and learning relationship, and address the big ideas and essential questions of life from a biblical perspective. Adventist education continues to add something of eternal value to the curriculum, to instruction, and to assessment that impacts student learning. The Adventist worldview will always serve as the lens through which teaching and learning transpire in the Adventist classroom.

Once students graduate from Adventist schools they must be ready to work in a global community. These standards give Adventist teachers the framework to know what students should know and be able to accomplish across the grade levels. Whether it is reading complex text, writing a persuasive article, or presenting a topic in a coherent manner with relevant evidence, students will approach learning from a biblical perspective. The partnership of faith and learning taught from a standards-based focus ensures that students continue to “grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.”