Curriculum Alignment
Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement

Edited by:

David A. Squires - ABC Education Consultants LLC, Branford, CT

Other Titles in:
Curriculum Leadership | Standards & Accountability | Teaching Methods & Learning Styles

September 2008 | 232 pages | Corwin

With so many standards driving state assessment specifications, there is insufficient time in the day to ensure that all students will individually perform at expectation. Curriculum Alignment offers school administrators and curriculum specialists concrete, practical guidance in aligning curriculum and instruction to standards and assessments in order to improve test scores, instruction, and learner achievement.This book presents what research says about alignment, and then uses that research as a platform for offering strategies to develop district curriculum and to improve instruction and student achievement.

Preface

List of Figures and Tables

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Part I. Alignment and Instruction, Textbooks, and Standardized Tests

1. Introduction to Curriculum Alignment

What is Alignment?

Alignment Problems

The Alignment Matrix

2. Alignment and Instruction

Introduction

The "Reform Up Close" Study and Alignment Dimensions

Instructional Alignment and Professional Development

Three Smaller Studies of Instructional Alignment

What Districts Can Do

3. Alignment and Textbooks

Introduction

Textbook to Test Alignment

Summary of Findings for Studies of Textbook to Test Alignment

Quality of Textbook Instruction

Modifying the Use of Textbooks to Improve Alignment

Summary of Findings for Textbook Alignment

What Districts Can Do

4. Alignment and Standardized Tests

Introduction

Marzano's Standards Compilation

The Webb Studies:Aligning State Standards, Assessments, and Policies

Webb's WAT Web Site

The Browder Study: Alignment in Special Education

Vertical Alignment

Science Inquiry and Alignment to Three Large-Scale Assessments

The Bowe and Kingsbury Study

The National Center for Educational Statistics Study (2007): Cut Scores for State Tests and the NAEP

Backloanding the Curriculum

Summary of Findings for Studies of Alignment of State Tests

What Districts Can Do

Part II. Alignment and Mastery Learning, Project 2061, and TIMSS

5. Alignment, Reteaching, and Mastery Learning

A Personal Ntoe

Introduction

Bloom's Theory of School Learning

Cohen: Instructional Alignment

The Wishnick Study

Summary of Findings for Studies of Mastery Learning

What Districts Can Do

6. Ideas From Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Introduction

Project 2061

Summary of Findings for Project 2061

What Districts Can Do

7. Alignment and the TIMSS Analysis

Introduction

The TIMSS Methodology

Curriculum and Student Acheivement

What Districts Can Do

Part III. The Aligned Curriculum

8. Criteria for a Useful and Useable Curriculum Incorporating Alignment

Introduction

The Many Meaning of Curriculum

The Common Definition of Curriculum

Our Definition of Curriculum

Criteria for a Useful and Useable Curriculum

9. Addressing Alignment Through a Curriculum Design: The Balanced Curriculum Model

Introduction

Results from School Districts

The Balanced Curriculum Model

Is the Balanced Curriculum Useful and Useable?

What Districts Can Do- A Conclusion

10. How the Balanced Curriculum Meets This Book's Recommendations for Districts

11. Summary of Alignment Research and Recommendations

Introduction

Summary of the Book

Summary of the Book's Chapters

The Reasearch Posted on the Alignment Matrix

Major Findings From the Alignment Research

Resource A: 10 Criteria for Structuring a Useful and Useable Curriculum

References

Index

"One of the few books that takes a holistic look at alignment and helps clarify the definition of alignment. Squires helped increase my knowledge as an instructional leader and showed me that alignment can be a valuable tool when used with real intent. The book engaged me in authentic reflection on my professional practice."

Margarete Couture, Principal

South Seneca Central School District, NY

"The author provides readers with much food for thought, resources to delve more deeply into specific ideas, and benefits and challenges to weigh when making curricular and alignment decisions. Readers are urged to seriously consider how they define curriculum and are offered an alternative definition that, when acted upon, may play a critical role in increasing student learning."

Judith A. Rogers, Professional Learning Specialist

Tucson Unified School District, AZ

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Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement

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