Curriculum Audits and Standards-Aligned Curriculum
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Project Lead Coaches: Dr. Harvey Perkins,
Krystal Thompkins, M.S.
Grade Bands: All
Delivery: In-Person (preferred), Hybrid, Virtual
Specialized to a Population: No
Audience: General Ed, SPED & Bilingual Teachers, Principals, Other School- and District-Level Administrators
The seminal research conducted by Fenwick English in 1992 (Deciding What to Teach and Test) and more recent work by Mike Schmoker (2011, Focus) and Eric Jensen (2009, Teaching with Poverty in Mind), address a major barrier to student success in many schools: the lack of deep alignment between the written, the tested, and the taught curriculum.
Deep alignment refers to the content alignment of the written curriculum (Does the content at each grade level in each course align to the IL Learning Standards?), and the context alignment of the written curriculum (Is the level of inquiry/assessment at the level of rigor of the required summative assessments for each grade and course?). This is critical to the discussion of equity. The research is clear that the lack of deep alignment in the written, taught, and tested curriculum has a greater impact on students of color, students from low-income families, and students with special learning needs.