According to Characteristics of Improved School Districts - Themes from Research (October, 2004),
in improved districts, curriculum is aligned with standards, assessments, and policies. The districts have a centralized
and coordinated approach to curriculum, which is adopted district-wide.
School districts across the studies in this research are concerned with the alignment of curriculum and assessment
as a factor in improving student achievement as measured by test scores. In these schools, the process of aligning curriculum
helped increase teachers' knowledge and understanding of content standards and curriculum materials. These districts
also did item-by-item analysis of results from state tests and revised curriculum and planned instruction accordingly.
Districts provided teachers and schools time to work together to ensure alignment from grade to grade as well as across the
district. Teachers were expected to use pacing guides that were developed by teachers. Interim assessments that
paralleled the state test were developed to check student learning periodically (Cawelti & Protheroe, Supporting School
Improvement: Lessons from Districts Successfully Meeting the Challenge, 2003).
The Ohio evaluation notes that study participants "identified curriculum alignment as the single greatest
factor in achieving improved test results. Two themes related to curriculum alignment consistently emerged: curriculum
mapping and change in instructional practices. . . . Teachers were responsible for a collaborative effort to ensure that each
grade at every school was teaching the same thing, and that teachers knew what was expected at the next higher grade . . .
. " (Kercheval & Newbill, A Case Study of Key Effective Practices in Ohio's Improved School Districts, 2002,
pp. 8-9). In North Carolina it was reported that districts promoted the "alignment of written, tested, and taught curriculum
by providing district-wide pacing guides, lessons that could be shared among teachers, and sometimes, periodic diagnositic
assessments" (Cawelti & Protheroe, p. 63).
The researchers in the Learning First Alliance study identified key compoents of systemwide approaches to
improving instruction. These are "systemwide curricula that connect to state standards, are coherent across grade levels,
and provide teachers with clear expectations about what to teach" (Togneri & Anderson, Beyond Islands of Excellence:
What Districts CanDo to Improve Instruction and Achievement in All Schools, 2003, p. 11). They explain, "Before
current reform efforts, the districts lacked universal understanding of expected outcomes. Some schools had common texts,
but no districts had systemwide curricula. Boards did not make instruction and achievement central to their work. .
. . Today much as changed. In general, districts are engaged in building systems in which the parts coalesce to collectively
support instruction" (p. 11).
Questions for reflection:
- How does district align learning standards with curriculum, assessment, and instruction?
- How does the district align policies with curriculum and instruction?
- What are district processes for coordinating curriculum districtwide?
- How does the district/building check for implementation of the curriculum?
This page was last updated on February 8, 2007.
