Examining the Alignment of Instructional Content to the Iowa Core

1. Examining the Alignment of Instructional Content to the Iowa Core <insert district name> Community School District <insert date>, 2010 v. 2

2. Session Objectives • Enhance a common understanding of curriculum and alignment concepts and terms • Explain the implementation outcome for alignment • Explain the purpose of the alignment process • Implement the alignment process v. 2

3. Giving Credit • Tools and process are strongly influenced by the following resources: • Surveys of Enacted Curriculum http://www.seconline.org • Webb Tools http://facstaff.wcer.wisc.edu/normw/ v. 2

4. Before We Get Started • Not evaluative or judgmental • Collective effort required v. 2

5. Activity #1: Divide & Define • In groups, max = 6 people (10 minutes) • Develop definitions/explanations of the terms curriculum and alignment • Include examples from your classrooms • As a team, compare your definitions to the Foundational Curriculum and Alignment Terms handouts (5 minutes) • Note similarities, differences, ah ha’s (5 minutes) v. 2

6. Summing Up: Curriculum Alignment • Our work today will focus on • ENACTED (INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT) TO INTENDED CURRICULUM • HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT • TOPICAL/CONCEPUTAL KNOWLEDGE • FINED-GRAINED, WITH COARSE-GRAINED RESULTS AS WELL v. 2

7. Outcome 4: Iowa Core v. 2

8. So What? Why does it matter if instructional content aligns with the Iowa Core (IC)? • Policy • Research v. 2

9. Iowa Core Requirements • The IC has been signed into law as mandatory • Senate File 2216 was passed in April 2008 • Implementation plan requirements outlined by the Department of Education, organized into 6 outcomes v. 2

10. IC Implementation Outcomes Leadership - Community - Schools 1. Leadership: System Capacity 2. Community: Support Implementation 3. Schools: Continuous Improvement Content - Instruction - Assessment 4. ALIGNMENT OF CONTENT, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT 5. Professional Development to improve Content, Instruction, and Assessment 6. Instruction: Effective Practices in Instruction/Assessment and Student Engagement v. 2

11. Outcome 4: Alignment • District leaders and other educators monitor and use data to increase the degree of alignmentof each and every student’s enacted curriculumand other relevant educational opportunities to the Iowa Core (intended curriculum). v. 2

12. Implementation Implications The focus on initial implementation work will be on examining alignment of the enacted curriculum to the intended curriculum (i.e., the Essential Concepts and Skill Sets). • SUMMATIVE SELF REPORTS • Observation and dialogue Iowa Curriculum Alignment Tool (ICAT) v. 2

13. What is the ICAT? ICAT is an electronic tool that was developed for the sole purpose of recording the enacted curriculum. v. 2

14. Why Alignment is Important • What research tells us about the impact of alignment on student outcomes: • As alignment between what is taught and what is assessed increases, so, too, do student outcomes (e.g., Gamoran et al., 1997; Cohen, 1987). • This is true even for students with low achievement, low SES, and ethnically and culturally diverse groups. v. 2

15. Why Alignment is Important “The content exposure itself is the most important in terms of effectively learning that content.” (Schmidt and Meier) “ The most important difference between the most and least effective classrooms is the teacher, but the most important variable appears to be WHAT THEY DO rather than what they know. (Williams, 2007) v. 2

16. Activity #2: Outcome 4 • Groups of 3-5, discuss potential implications of this outcome for • Practices of teachers • Professional development • District and school priorities • 5 minutes • Note questions you have v. 2

17. How? How do we determine alignment between instructional content and the IC? What will we need to do? v. 2

18. The Alignment Process • Identify Teachers • Identify Support Documents • Learn Background Information • Learn Coding Process • Engage in Coding Process • Next Steps v. 2

19. Let’s Get Started ✓A. Identify Teachers ✓B. Identify Support Documents • Required: Essential Concepts/Skill Sets http://www.corecurriculum.iowa.gov/ • District decision: Anything that will help you remember what you taught this year ✓C. Learn Background Information v. 2

20. Step D: Learn Coding Process • Thinking Process: The lens through which we will examine alignment • Guidelines: How we will make alignment decisions • Order: When we will do different tasks • Nuts and Bolts:How alignment is documented with the tools v. 2

21. Step D: Learn Coding Process • Thinking Process • Looking through your “alignment” lens • Determine extent of alignment, not to align • Ask yourself “did I teach this?” • Ask yourself “was it explicit or implied?” If implied, don’t mark it as enacted. • Relies on your expertise and professional judgments v. 2

22. Step D: Learn Coding Process • Thinking Process • Purpose of alignment work is to document what actually happened, not what was “supposed” to happen. • Help develop a system of offerings that will give all students an opportunity to learn the full IC. • There are no “extra points” for high alignment. • Your time and expertise are precious…it needs to be put to good use. Key Alignment Question: What did students get the opportunity to learn during the school year? v. 2

23. Step D: Learn Coding Process • Guidelines • Sameness: (when thinking about what’s taught) • One-to-one correspondence • Dig into each line of the IC outline; • Explicitly covered vs. students already have it mastered (and need to use it for new learning) • No Squinting: thinking really hard • Time Limit: thinking for a long time (e.g., over a minute) v. 2

24. Step D: Learn the Coding Process • Nuts and bolts • Facilitator demo first • Play Video • Follow along on Cheat Sheet v. 2

25. Step E: Code the Content • Begin! • A Facilitator will be available • Remember • Take your time, take breaks as needed • Refer to the Cheat Sheet for help v. 2

26. Step F: Next Steps • Complete all coding • Once the work is complete, the district should work to determine how the data will be used • Ideas for next steps might include… • Creating a database of grade and course sequences that ensure an opportunity to learn the full IC • Creating, modifying, or eliminating content from instruction to ensure sufficient opportunity to learn the IC • Professional development on course/instructional design • Any question or concerns, contact Sandi Campie or Faith Koger at the AEA: 563.359.1371 v. 2