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Is There a De Facto National Curriculum? Evidence from State Content Standards

Is There a De Facto National Curriculum? Evidence from State Content Standards. Andrew Porter and Morgan Polikoff, University of Pennsylvania John Smithson, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Background. Success of standards based reform depends on alignment

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Is There a De Facto National Curriculum? Evidence from State Content Standards

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  1. Is There a De Facto National Curriculum? Evidence from State Content Standards Andrew Porter and Morgan Polikoff, University of Pennsylvania John Smithson, University of Wisconsin-Madison

  2. Background • Success of standards based reform depends on alignment • National vs. state content standards • Policy attributes theory

  3. Questions • To what extent does there exist a de facto national curriculum, as represented by state content standards? • How focused are state content standards? • How demarcated is content across grade levels? • To what extent are state content standards aligned with national professional standards?

  4. Procedures • Surveys of Enacted Curriculum • Two-dimensional (content & cognitive demand) • ELAR, science, mathematics • Coarse- and fine-grained analysis • Alignment • Scale from 0 to 1 with 1=perfect alignment • Calculated at the fine grain

  5. Data • Completed since 2003 • Grades 4 & 8 • 14 states in mathematics, ELAR; 13 states in science; NSE & NCTM • Grades K-8 or 1-8 • 10 states in math, 7 in ELAR, 4 in science; NSE & NCTM

  6. Results Average alignment, maximums, and minimums among state content standards and national professional standards

  7. Coarse-grained content maps for the two most aligned states, ELAR grade 4 Alignment = .48

  8. Coarse-grained content maps for the two least aligned states, ELAR grade 8 Alignment = .07

  9. Coarse-grained content maps for the most aligned state, Science grades 4 and 8 Alignment = .52

  10. Coarse-grained content maps for the least aligned state, Science grades 4 and 8 Alignment = .12

  11. Coarse-grained content maps for the two most aligned states, Mathematics grades 1-8 Alignment = .62

  12. Coarse-grained content maps for the two least aligned states, Mathematics grades 1-8 Alignment = .36

  13. Coarse grained content maps for the most aligned state to NSE Standards, Science grades 1-8 Alignment = .50

  14. Coarse grained content maps for the least aligned state to NCTM Standards, Mathematics grades 1-8 Alignment = .35

  15. Contrast of most and least focused states, coarse grained, ELAR grade 4

  16. Conclusions • No evidence of a de facto national curriculum • Alignments moderate when aggregated across grades, low for individual grades • Some evidence of small core curriculum • 8-13 cells per subject with emphasis > .01 • Capture 10-36% of content depending on state/subject

  17. Fine-grained content maps for Comprehension for the two most aligned states, ELAR grade 4

  18. Fine-grained content maps for Writing Components for the two most aligned states, ELAR grade 4

  19. Fine-grained content maps for Comprehension for the two least aligned states, ELAR grade 8

  20. Fine-grained content maps for Writing Components for the two least aligned states, ELAR grade 8

  21. Fine-grained content maps for Earth Systems for the most aligned state, Science grades 4 and 8

  22. Fine-grained content maps for Ecology for the most aligned state, Science grades 4 and 8

  23. Fine-grained content maps for Earth Systems for the least aligned state, Science grades 4 and 8

  24. Fine-grained content maps for Ecology for the least aligned state, Science grades 4 and 8

  25. Fine-grained content maps for Number Sense for the two most aligned states, Mathematics grades 1-8

  26. Fine-grained content maps for Basic Algebra for the two most aligned states, Mathematics grades 1-8

  27. Fine-grained content maps for Number Sense for the two least aligned states, Mathematics grades 1-8

  28. Fine-grained content maps for Basic Algebra for the two least aligned states, Mathematics grades 1-8

  29. Contrast of most and least focused states, fine grained for Comprehension, ELAR grade 4

  30. Contrast of most and least focused states, fine grained for Writing Components, ELAR grade 4

  31. Fine grained content maps for Earth Systems for the most aligned state to NSE Standards, Science grades 1-8

  32. Fine grained content maps for Ecology for the most aligned state to NSE Standards, Science grades 1-8

  33. Fine grained content maps for Number Sense for the least aligned state to NCTM Standards, Mathematics grades 1-8

  34. Fine grained content maps for Basic Algebra for the least aligned state to NCTM Standards, Mathematics grades 1-8

  35. Conclusions, continued • Within-state 4-8 alignment as high or higher than between-state alignment • State alignment with national professional standards no greater than among states • Considerable variation across states in level of focus • States use between 2%-14% of the cells to capture 80% of the total curriculum

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