WestEd’s content and assessment experts are available to conduct standards-to-standards alignment studies, which provide: findings to meet rigorous evidence requirements, such as federal peer review guidelines; and key feedback that contributes to quality content standards. This service is available for a range of grade levels and content areas.
WestEd’s Item‐to‐Standards Alignment Studies
WestEd’s content and assessment experts are available to conduct curriculum-to-standards alignment studies, which provide: findings to meet rigorous evidence requirements, such as federal peer review guidelines; and key feedback that contributes to quality assessments. This service is available for a range of grade levels and content areas.
WestEd’s Curriculum‐to‐Standards Alignment Studies
WestEd’s content and assessment experts are available to conduct curriculum-to-standards alignment studies, which provide: findings on the alignment between local curricula and state content standards, and key feedback that contributes to quality standards-based curricula. This service is available for a range of grade levels and content areas.
Fundamentals of Learning (FOL)
This publication provides a framework, the Fundamentals of Learning (FOL), to assist teachers in transitioning to the classroom practices called for in the College- and Career-Ready Standards (CCRS). The content of this resource is drawn from leading theory and research about learning and assessment and from an examination of the Common Core State Standards. Since it is the students who actually DO the learning, this resource focuses on three fundamental aspects of learning that underpin classroom practice for K-12 students’ attainment of the CCRS. The Fundamentals are: (1) Making Meaning, (2) Participating and Contributing, and (3) Managing Learning. This resource is one in a series produced by the Center on Standards and Assessment Implementation. The series’ goal is to assist teachers and those who support teachers to plan teaching and learning for diverse learners from the CCRS.
Using K-2 Summative Assessments to Improve Third Grade Outcomes Webinar and Presentation
CSAI recently presented to Early Childhood, Assessment, and Accountability staff from seven states at the request of the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) as a professional learning event for their Early Childhood Community of Practice. Through this presentation, CSAI addressed the following three objectives:
Increased recognition of the pervasiveness of assessments administered at K – 2 that are reported to the state
Increased understanding of the value of common statewide assessments for evaluating school/district performance
Providing examples of how states are using their statewide assessment data to analyze trends and identify instructional issues
Using K-2 Summative Assessments to Improve Third Grade Outcomes: Webinar | Presentation
High-Leverage Principles of Effective Instruction for English Learners
New college and career ready standards (CCRS) have established more rigorous expectations of learning for all learners, including EL students, than what was expected in previous standards. A common feature in these new content-area standards is their emphasis on students’ use of language to articulate and convey understanding of the content. The heightened role that language plays in CCRS presents new challenges for EL students and their teachers by calling for improved instructional strategies that simultaneously address language and content-area learning.
The purpose of this resource is to provide teachers of EL students with effective, high-leverage learning and teaching principles that can be incorporated into daily instructional plans and routines. Instruction that addresses EL students’ needs should include five key considerations:
Determine and address the academic language demands of the lesson;
Build upon students’ background knowledge;
Design and scaffold deeper learning tasks that integrate listening, speaking, reading, and writing domains;
Provide opportunities for student participation through extended oral discourse and structured collaboration; and
Use formative assessment to support both language development and content goals.
The high-leverage principles for EL instruction presented in this resource are based on relevant research and most up-to-date literature on effective instruction. Each principle is accompanied by examples that illustrate its use. The resource concludes with an annotated classroom vignette that highlights the principles in action.