The Zekelman Standards for Chumash set the communal learning guidelines for Chumash classes in elementary schools. Created by expert Mechanchim and Mechanchos, the innovative Standards ensure student success, by giving teachers the knowledge and resources to create clear Chumash learning goals, along with the steps for students to meet them.

• Shift the focus from coveraging ground, to learning how to learn.
• Enable skill based instruction and transparent assessment.
• Allow teachers to track the progress of every student.
• Can be adapted across grade levels and school types.
• Are acclaimed by esteemed educators and used in Jewish schools around the world.

Want to find out more about the Zekelman Standards? Click here to download a brief overview, and then head on over to Browse Standards to begin your journey.

Without clear goals, how can we assess student progress, distribute the learning among teachers and grade levels, or track our school’s efficacy in building lifelong learnings? The Zekelman Standards were created to enable Judaic Studies instruction to be data driven, creating the possibility for clear curriculum maps, authentic assessments, class-wide and individual student analysis, and action plans to ensure student learning. 

Dozens of schools have adopted the Zekelman Standards as their roadmap for teaching Chumash, transforming student outcomes. You can start with one standard or skill area, dive in with one grade level at a time, or adopt the complete standards as a whole. We’re here to help you.

• Click here to download a free Deployment Guide, containing a helpful guide to standards implementation.
• MEF offers consultation and professional development to ensure successful implementation of the Zekelman Standards. Click here to request a free initial consultation with our team.

The Zekelman Standards allow you to identify clear and specific goals for your students, align your curriculum and assessments to those goals, and track your students’ mastery to ensure that each one can succeed. With the Zekelman Standards for Chumash, you can unlock your students’ potential by shifting from “teaching a Posuk or Perek” to “teaching students how to learn.” By using a standards-based approach, students will build vital skills to enable them to learn new Pesukim and then Meforshim with increasing independence, so that when they graduate from your care, they can continue to grow in their learning.

While school-wide implementation is the ideal approach to the Zekelman Standards, hundreds of teachers around the world have benefited from enriching their understanding of teaching Chumash, gaining new techniques for increasing rigor in their classroom, and shifting their approach from coverage to skills. And we’re here to help.

• You can start by browsing the Standards or downloading Resources to expand your horizons and gain useful tools and resources for teaching Chumash.
• Our self-paced webinar series will elevate your Chumash lessons and give you a robust understanding of this new way of teaching.
• Have questions? We’re happy to talk. Click here to request a free consultation with one of our team members.

The Zekelman Standards for Chumash are intended for any text-based subject in Torah Shebiksav. You may also find that Standard 1 – Essentials is a powerful foundation for Yahadus or Hashkafa Class; Standard 2 – Content can provide guidelines for learning Parsha; and Standard 3 – Language can help steer your Hebrew language instruction classes to ensure a solid foundation for Torah learning.

In addition to the Zekelman Standards for Chumash, our beta Talmud Standards are also being utilized in Mishna and Gemara classes around the world. 

The Zekelman Standards team is always working to develop new resources to support high quality instruction in Limudei Kodesh, so stay tuned and stay informed! Sign up to our emails to never miss an update.