The Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment category outlines the connection between the three critical components to ensure learning and they're interdependence on each other. This category describes the approach and systems related to teaching and learning at G-PISD. As well, the category provides direction into HOW we know learning is happening through a variety of assessments and monitoring practices.
Curriculum
Guiding Principles
We are committed to implementing a guaranteed and viable curriculum with fidelity to ensure equity and prevent performance gaps in our school system.
We will ensure that every student has access to a highly effective educator with a deep understanding of the curriculum and the vertical and horizontal alignment.
Expectations
- Teachers are expected to teach at high academic levels aligned to the state curriculum, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). The Texas Education Agency ensures that there is a coherent progression in the complexity of the TEKS for each content area as students progress through the grades. In addition, the district-approved curriculum resource(s) provide teachers with tools that enhance their ability to understand the depth and complexity of the standards to support their instruction.
Resources/Protocols
Glossary
- Collaboration: a time stakeholders come together to plan units of instruction, develop lesson plans, rehearse lesson plans, analyze performance data and make decisions for quality instruction that achieves results
- Collaborative Planning: Collaborative Planning is when stakeholders come together to plan units of instruction, develop lesson plans, analyze performance data and make decisions for quality instruction that achieve results.
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Curriculum standards: outline what students are to learn in each course or grade, are called Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). The standards are adopted by the State Board of Education.
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Depth and Complexity of the Standards: The cognitive level of the learning required in relation to the content and its depth.
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Guaranteed: Every student is given the opportunity to learn, which provides them with the probability of achievement.
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Standards: The Texas Education Agency establishes the Texas Essential of Knowledge and Skills for all courses and all grade levels which ensure that all students in the state of texas learn at challenging levels.
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Viable: Schools make sure that the necessary time is available and protected so students will be able to learn the guaranteed curriculum
Instruction
Guiding Principles
We will ensure the curriculum is delivered using authentic, engaging, aligned, differentiated, and culturally responsive instructional practices.
We will ensure the learning objectives articulate what students should be able to do as a result of the instruction.
We will ensure that all students will have access to instructional materials that are equitable and ensure academic success in all content areas.
Expectations
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To ensure that students understand the essence of instruction, learning objectives should be articulate daily. This will strengthen the student-centered learning environment.
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Planning is critical to quality instruction and therefore, G-P teachers are required to plan high-quality lessons integrating evidence-based instructional strategies.
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Teachers will utilize high quality instructional materials aligned to the level of thinking of the standard.
Resources/Protocols
Glossary
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Aligned: Standards, curricula, assessments, and instruction—work together to achieve desired goals
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Academic Success: The accomplishment of the learning process; gaining subject knowledge
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Culturally Responsive: An approach to schooling that promotes student engagement, learning, and achievement by centering their knowledge, cultural backgrounds, and everyday experiences in the classroom.
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Differentiated: Tailoring instruction to meet individual student needs.
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Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies: They are the means by which students achieve learning outcomes based on data.
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Engaging: refers to the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show when they are learning or being taught, which extends to the level of motivation they have to learn and progress in their education.
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Equitable (Equity): child receives what they need to develop to their full academic and social potential.
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High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) are curricular resources that:
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Ensure full coverage of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
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Are aligned to evidence-based best practices in the relevant content area
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Support all learners, including students with disabilities, English Learners, and students identified as gifted and talented
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Enables frequent progress monitoring through embedded and aligned assessments
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Includes implementation supports for teachers
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teacher and student-facing lesson-level materials
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Instructional Software: Software used to support the learning process.
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Learning objective: Communicate what students need to know and be able to do.
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Passive receiver: Students receive information from the instruction but don’t internalize it.
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Student-Centered learning environment: Moves students from passive receivers of information to active participants in their own learning.
Assessment
Guiding Principles
We are committed to being evidence-driven educators who use a variety of assessments to improve student learning.
We are committed to using assessments for learning to develop grit in our students by having them set and monitor goals, providing consistent feedback and actionable steps for improvements, and empowering educators and students to meet their goals.
We are committed to using reliable data to drive instructional decisions.
Expectations
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Teachers use a variety of assessments to ensure students are learning the standards and making progress.
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Teachers are expected to analyze assessment data and take appropriate action.
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Teachers proactively plan time for assessment analysis to provide feedback to students and assist them in setting goals.
- All campuses will implement the Universal Screener Administration.
Resources/Protocols
Glossary
Actionable steps are tasks we have created for ourselves that are clear, efficient and manageable.
Assessment for learning (AFL) is an approach to teaching and learning that creates feedback which is then used to improve students' performance. ... Skilled teachers plan tasks which help learners to do this. AFL involves students becoming more active in their learning and starting to 'think like a teacher'. Cambridge University Press & Assessment, 2022 https://cambridge-community.org.uk/professional-development/gswafl/index.html
Consistent Feedback. Feedback is commentary on the student work, individualized to best accommodate the needs of each student, personally.
Grit is a passion for learning combined with perseverance through the various stages (successes/failures) of mastering any aspect of education.
Empower means to give power or authority to. In the realm of education we want to empower students to have ownership over their learning and empower them with feedback.
Evidence driven. A widely used adjective in education, evidence-based or evidence-driven refers to any concept or strategy that is derived from or informed by objective evidence—most commonly, educational research or metrics of school, teacher, and student performance.
Reliable data: data that can be a trusted basis for analysis and decision-making.
Student goals are the personal aspirations (social, emotional and/or intellectual) of each individual student that includes actionable steps.
Universal Screener: Universal screening is the administration of an assessment to all students. The purpose of this assessment is to determine which students may be struggling with reading or math skills. Universal assessments help teachers understand what students know and are able to do and what they are ready to learn.
Variety of Assessments: are used to evaluate student learning, which can include (but not limited to) formative, summative, benchmark and performance assessments.
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Formative Assessment: a range of formal and informal assessment procedures conducted by teachers during the learning process in order to modify teaching and learning activities to improve student attainment. These assessments include but are not limited to: pretests, exit tickets, pop quizzes, writing samples, class discussions, individual assignments, etc.
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Benchmark Assessment: are administered periodically to check if students are making progress toward the end of the year standards.
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Summative Assessment: are used to evaluate student learning, skill acquisition, and academic achievement at the conclusion of a defined instructional period—typically at the end of a project, unit, course, semester, program, or school year. These assessments include but are not limited to: tests, essays, debates, etc.
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Performance Assessment: This assessment measures how well students apply their knowledge, skills, and abilities to authentic problems. The key feature is that it requires the student to produce something, such as a report, experiment, or performance, which is scored against specific criteria.