This guide is intended to provide local agricultural education tech prep programs throughout Colorado with a framework for updating their own curriculum and developing articulation with postsecondary institutions. First, a primer to standards-based education explains the role of the following items in standards-based education in agriculture: (1) rubrics (written narratives used to evaluate individual students' attainment of particular standards); (2) enablers (subskills that students must possess to demonstrate the ability demanded in a standard); and (3) authentic assessment (tools used to evaluate whether individual students have truly attained the skills and abilities demanded in a standard). Next, a user's guide to standards-based education in agriculture outlines the process of developing a curriculum guaranteeing that students completing the program have met specified standards of knowledge and skill. Suggested standards in agricultural education are listed by grade level and by the following courses: agricultural mechanics; agricultural business; agricultural science; environmental science; agriculture education I; and agriculture education II. Each standard is accompanied by a rubric, sample enablers, and sample assessments. Next, an agricultural tech prep resource guide lists the addresses of 23 resource organizations and the items each supplies. Concluding the guide is a list of 12 useful World Wide Web sites for agricultural education teachers. (MN)