Pathway to Success
5 STEPS TOWARD THE PATHWAY TO SUCCESS
Step #1
Curriculum Alignment
We work with individual teachers to assure that their curriculum is ALIGNED to state standards and all appropriate state assessments. We additionally assure that all curriculum is aligned with the new literacy and college and career readiness standards. We use the IDOE as a basis for completion and utilize our worksheet to include the following:
State Standards
Knowledge to be acquired- what does that MEAN they will be teaching
Essential Questions (these will later assist in developing DLT to use to gather more data)
Assessment Alignment (where appropriate)
Scope and Sequence/time line- assuring spiraling and important/weighted materials are taught before the state assessments
Resources- we want all information (tests, quizzes, notes, worksheets, CFU, differentiated instructional activities, activities, assessments etc. LINKED for access in the future)
Step #2
Vertical Alignment
After each teacher/grade level has completed the above we now vertically align the curriculum. Make sure we are utilizing the recommended reading and vocabulary lists from the IDOE. We assure that items that are heavily assessed are spiraled thoroughly throughout the appropriate grade levels. Also, here, we look at the school’s data to see where the holes are in their scores that are most likely caused by holes in the curriculum or not enough emphasis in spiraling the curriculum.
Step #3
Creating Highly Rigorous Quarterly Assessments
Once all curriculum is vertically and horizontally aligned we now must increase the rigor and the frequency of highly rigorous assessments. We recommend that these assessments be administered quarterly to allow teachers to modify and adjust data BEFORE the state testing.
Step #4
Development of Effective Professional Learning Communities/Data
Now that we have all curriculum aligned and we have effective, rigorous quarterly assessments it is time to really dig into the data. In order to do that we must create and teach HOW to run effective Professional Learning Communities. These PLC’s monitor and move data through our 40 minute protocol and effective strategies.
Step #5
Instructional Strategies
Now it is time to dig into the instructional strategies in our classrooms. We will gather data from observations as to what is happening in YOUR school and teach teachers how to utilize more effective instructional strategies. These are based on YOUR school and YOUR teachers. There is no “one size fits all here”. This training part will vary greatly based upon your teachers and your need.