In sum, teachers must be knowledgeable about the content standards in each of the disciplines and know how to select instructional activities and both formal and informal assessment tasks that embody content standards. For many experience teachers, focusing on standards has meant moving away from rote knowledge and skills used in isolation toward a greater focus on conceptual understanding of core ideas and on students’ abilities to solve problems and formulate an argument. Beginning teachers should be able to design or select assessment tasks that probe for students’ conceptual understanding and reflect important learning goals.