The standards in this document are for Automotive Technology programs and are designed to clearly state what the student should know and be able to do upon completion of an advanced high-school automotive program. Minimally, the student will complete a three-year program to achieve all standards. Although these exit-level standards are designed for advanced programs, they are also intended to focus curriculum objectives for entry-level programs. Objectives for first- and second-year programs, for example, may include many of the performance indicators in the "approaches standard" section for each performance standard. The standards are organized as follows: Content Standards are general statements that identify major areas of knowledge, understanding and the skills students are expected to learn in key subject and career areas by the end of the program. The content standards for Automotive Technology are organized according to the eight technical areas defined by the NATEF standards. Following each content standard are a number of performance standards. Performance standards identify the more specific components of each content standard and define the expected abilities of students within each content standard. Each performance standard is supported by performance indicators. Performance indicators are very specific criteria statements for determining whether a student exceeds the standard, meets the standard, or whose performance approaches the standard. Performance indicators may also be used as learning outcomes which teachers can identify as they plan their program learning objectives. All performance indicators are taken directly from the NATEF standards and are organized into three categories according to degree of difficulty: Exceeds Standard; Meets Standard; or Approaches Standard. Any student considered successful in the completion of a particular performance standard will have successfully demonstrated all performance indicators in the "Meets" and "Approaches" sections for the performance standard. Furthermore, any knowledge and/or performance assessments should be based on the indicators in those sections. Although the safety competencies are listed under the first content standard, they must be integrated into all performance standards, especially where the student will be working with tools, machinery, and/or hazardous materials. The final section of the document shows where the performance standards and performance indicators support the state academic standards for math, science, and English. Where correlation with an academic standard exists, students in the automotive program perform learning activities that support, either directly or indirectly, achievement of one or more academic standards.