Bringing the Standards to Life with Aligned Meaningful

Bringing the Standards to Life with Aligned, Meaningful Curriculum Dr. Nikolai Vitti, Superintendent Summer Standards Institute, Fort Lauderdale July 2016

The research is clear. Students learn primarily through interactions with teachers and instructional materials. Strong materials impact student learning. “…choice of instructional materials can have an impact as large as or larger than the impact of teacher quality. ” “…improving teacher quality is challenging, expensive, and timeconsuming, making better choices among available instructional materials should be relatively easy, inexpensive, and quick. ” Chingos and Whitehurst, “Choosing Blindly: Instructional Materials, Teacher Effectiveness and the Common Core, ” Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings, (April 10, 2012), http: //www. brookings. edu/research/reports/2012/04/10 -curriculum-chingos-whitehurst. /2

Our Journey to Aligned, Meaningful Curriculum in Duval Defined Our Challenge Partnered with TNTP to diagnose current practices in HR. Through teacher surveys, saw curriculum materials would be a challenge as we implemented the new standards, but we decided to focus on instructional leadership development. 2013 -14 Built Our Capacity Developed a vision for excellent instruction and rebooted sitting principal training to focus on instruction – especially the shifts in standards. System focus on instruction led to collective agreement that curriculum materials were weak. TNTP supported us with an IMET and a multi-year curriculum strategy. 2014 -15 Launched Our Strategy Deepening Our Work Engaged teachers and school admin to select Launching improved more aligned materials professional learning in K-5. structures to support teachers as they Overcame political implement our core pushback linked to curriculum. new standards. Implementing our new Implemented adoption in 6 -8 ELA Engage. NY in ELA (Collections). (CKLA, EL) and math (Eureka). Continuing to set a higher bar for Applied IMET criteria materials with in our ongoing upcoming adoptions. adoption decisions. 2015 -16 2016 -17 /3

During the school year, we quickly saw differences in the alignment of student work in our elementary schools. Alignment of Student Assignments in Elementary and Secondary ELA and Math 14% 25% 39% 43% 50% 59% 41% 30% 25% 14% 17% 16% 3% Elementary Secondary Elementary ELA No Alignment Secondary Math Weak Strong Excellent /4

We have also seen a steady improvement in teachers’ perception of our instructional culture. Teachers’ Perceptions on Annual Instructional Culture Insight Survey 60% 64% 71% 69% 73% 78% 72% 75% 80% 63% 69% 51% 35% 42% Teachers at my school share The expectations for My school is committed to The training I have received a common vision of what effective teaching are clearly improving my instructional on the new Standards will effective teaching looks like. defined at my school. practice. help me improve my practice. Mar. 2014 Dec. 2014 I am satisfied with the support I receive at my school for instructional planning. Dec. 2015 /5

Though we still have lots of work to do, especially in reading where growth is slower to achieve, we are most excited by the promising gains in student achievement that we have realized in just our first year of implementation. Grade Level/Subject District Growth State Growth 3 rd Grade Reading +4 +1 4 th Grade Reading -2 -2 5 th Grade Reading -2 0 3 rd Grade Math +6 +3 4 th Grade Math +3 0 5 th Grade Math +2 0 • District increased proficiency in 4/7 categories • District outpaced state for growth in 5/7 categories and tied in 1/7 • District increased ranking among Big 7 districts in 4/7 categories /6

We have learned a lot through this work. Here are some of our key lessons learned. ü Seek a partner who can push you beyond the way you have “always done” adoptions unless there is an strong internal capacity and political advocacy for reform. ü Embrace selection criteria that set a high bar for alignment and apply them with a range of local stakeholders. Do not assume that all “approved” materials are created equally; empower educators and admin to select better resources with better selection criteria. Use Ed. Reports and high quality curriculum reviews! ü The work is just beginning when you adopt great materials. Think proactively about your plan for implementation – including educator support, progress monitoring and community communications – to ensure success. /7