Alignment
Curriculum
4 Ways States Are Exerting More Control Over Classroom Materials
States have limited power over what materials teachers use—but some are wielding influence anyway.
Curriculum
Teachers' Use of Standards-Aligned Curricula Slowed During the Pandemic
More math teachers are using standards-aligned materials than English/language arts teachers, according to RAND survey results.
Curriculum
Opinion
The Overlooked Support Teachers Are Missing: A Coherent Curriculum
Here’s the research on how districts can improve instructional systems—which was already a challenge in the best of times.
Curriculum
Leader To Learn From
Championing a Knowledge-Building Curriculum, One Classroom at a Time
Curriculum matters, but so does how teachers make use of it. Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Jana Beth Francis helps teachers in Daviess County Public Schools, Ky., unpack a new core English/language arts curriculum and use it to build students’ content expertise year after year. She is recognized as a 2020 Leader To Learn From.
Professional Development
Opinion
The Hidden Mistake School Leaders Should Avoid This Year
The most common assumption that leaders make is one they don’t even realize they’re making, warns chief academic officer Jared Myracle.
Assessment
Video
Deep Dive Discussion: Assessment and Testing
In this half-hour discussion, Education Week veteran reporter Catherine Gewertz facilitates a conversation with school and district-level leaders around testing.
Among the issues tackled: the pressure to reduce testing, federal accountability around testing, and alignment.
Catherine Gewertz is a reporter covering assessment and pathways from the middle grades to high school and beyond. Since joining Education Week in 1999, she has been the lead common-core reporter and has covered urban schools.
Curriculum
For Educators, Curriculum Choices Multiply, Evolve
How is a district to choose in a curriculum landscape that includes open educational resources, digital 'playlists,' teacher-designed lessons, and old-fashioned textbooks?
Standards
States Still Working to Align Tests to Standards, New Map Shows
Research by C-SAIL, a new group that's tracking standards implementation and testing, finds that some states are still working to fully implement standards in the classroom, and some have yet to reach that goal.
Social Studies
Adaptive Digital Curricula Lagging in Science, Social Studies
Education companies are just starting to develop personalized learning products in subjects outside math and literacy.
Curriculum
Flood of Open Education Resources Challenges Educators
New content curation tools aim to help teachers organize and find digital content to personalize student learning for a variety of subjects.
Every Student Succeeds Act
Will States Swap Standards-Based Tests for SAT, ACT?
An ESSA provision that lets states use college-entrance exams to measure student achievement could spur a profound shift in high school testing.
Curriculum
Text-Review Group Shares First Look at Its Process
EdReports.org is training teachers to evaluate how well textbooks align with the common-core standards. The nonprofit group will start publishing Consumer Reports-style reviews early next year.
Curriculum
Big Year Looms for Common-Core Testing
This is the academic year when nearly every state must give assessments aligned to their "college- and career-ready" standards. But there are questions about how well those tests will measure mastery of the standards.
Curriculum
Common-Core Math Textbooks to Get Online Ratings
A new organization billing itself as a "Consumer Reports for school materials" will soon begin posting online reviews of major textbooks and curricula that purport to align with the common-core standards.