A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | |
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2 | Curriculum Review of Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) conducted in partnership between the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and The Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities under the guidelines of the Minnesota Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act (January 2024). This spreadsheet is designed to be read in conjunction with the curriculum review report, which is forthcoming. | Global ratings | ||||||
3 | Descriptor | Look-Fors & Examples | K Score | 1st Score | 2nd Score | 3rd Score | 4th Score | 5th Score |
4 | PROGRAM DESIGN & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT | |||||||
5 | G1. Clear evidence the program materials are designed based on current confirmed research principles | Evidence of confirmed research principles may include: * Peer-reviewed research citations * Information about the program's alignment to theoretical models (e.g., Scarborough's Reading Rope, The Simple View of Reading) * Documentation of how Universal Design for Learning Principles are embedded into the resource | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
6 | G2. Materials provide ongoing and embedded professional development to support teachers with various backgrounds, experience, and skills | A) Rationale for curriculum design clearly articulated in teacher materials | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
7 | B) Evidence-based practices are clearly identified within the teacher manual and information about why they work is included the first time they appear in a given grade | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
8 | C) Additional information around research or evidence-based practices is offered in appendices or supplemental resources for educators wanting to learn more | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
9 | D) Asynchronous or synchronous professional learning support is available | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
10 | INTENTIONAL DESIGN FOR TEACHER USABILITY | |||||||
11 | G3. Completion of the curriculum is viable within a school year | A) A year-long pacing guide is provided and all required lessons can feasibly be completed in one academic year (e.g., fewer than 175 days of lesson content including assessments) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
12 | B) The year-long pacing guide reserves time for reteaching and interruptions to the schedule such as special events or state testing | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
13 | G4. Daily lesson content is feasible for the time allotted | A) Guidance is provided for suggested time allocation for each lesson component | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
14 | B) The lesson content provided can be completed within the recommended time | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
15 | C) If lessons have content for a range of instructional blocks (e.g, 90 minutes and 120 minutes), the resource clearly indicates which content is essential | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
16 | G5. Materials are presented in ways that support ease, consistency, and integrity of implementation | A) Unit, week, and/or lesson overview provided | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
17 | B) Consistent layout and formatting of teacher & student materials | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
18 | C) Clear embedded explanations of how lessons connect to the big idea/essential question | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
19 | D) Clear embedded explanations of how the current lesson builds on prior learning and supports future learning | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
20 | E) Lessons include suggested teacher language to support consistency in how concepts, skills, and routines are introduced | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
21 | F) Lessons include clear and consistent instructional routines and procedures | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
22 | G) Organization of materials are easy to follow, consistent, and cohesive | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
23 | G6. Materials provide the necessary tools and guidance for effective data-based decision-making | A) Guidelines for interpretation of assessment data are provided (e.g., if this data profile, then the student may need...., if under 80% of the students were proficient, reteaching may be necessary) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
24 | B) Guidance is provided around when whole-class intensification may be necessary to accelerate growth (class-wide intervention, more gradual release, more practice, etc.) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
25 | INTENTIONAL DESIGN FOR STUDENT ACCESS & LEARNING | |||||||
26 | G7. Student materials are designed for optimal accessibility | Accessibility materials, when appropriate, may include: * Print and digital student materials * Audio read-aloud options provided * Visual content (photos, print, videos, diagrams, other visual content) * Manipulatives and other concrete objects * Assistive technology | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
27 | G8. Curriculum is designed to allow for multiple means of student expression | Multiple means of student expression, when appropriate, may include: * Multimedia presentation * Written response * Socratic seminar * Partner discussion | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
28 | G9. Curriculum is designed to facilitate student executive functioning | Facilitation for executive functioning may include: * Students are asked to set and monitor goals connected to learning outcomes * Tools are provided to support student goal-setting and self-reflection (e.g., rubrics, checklists, exemplars, etc.) * Student planning and time management is part of instructional design (e.g., due dates, planning templates, checklists, etc.) * Resource and information management is part of the design (e.g., templates for note-taking, tabbed journals, etc.) * Guidance is provided on how to build student independence with strategy/tool identification and use (e.g., when to use a venn diagram, which strategy to use under what circumstances) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
29 | G10. Curriculum is designed to facilitate student engagement | Facilitation for student engagement may include: * Materials allow for reasonable choices in what students learn within the learning outcome (e.g., choose a country to learn, choose a historical figure within the timeframe to research) * Units/lessons offer opportunities and structures for cooperative student work * Guidance is provided on how to support students in sustaining effort and persistence (productive struggle, zone of proximal development) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
30 | G11. High-impact instructional routines are embedded in the resource and support student learning | A) Clear language is provided for teachers around how to implement instructional routines | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
31 | B) A rationale is provided as to why the routines are effective | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
32 | C) New instructional routines are introduced before being used with new content | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
33 | G12. Curriculum has clear evidence of explicit instruction | A) Lesson design includes: 1. lesson opening (get students attention, state lesson target, discuss relevance of target skill, and review previous content) 2. examples for teacher introduction and modeling (I do) 3. items that could be used for guided practice (we do) 4. items that could be used for independent practice (you do) 5. lesson closing | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
34 | B) Lesson is constructed to require frequent participation from students (e.g., choral response, response card, hand signal) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
35 | C) Guidance is provided for giving affirming and corrective feedback | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
36 | G13. Materials provide guidance and resources to support teachers in meeting the needs of students with dialectical variations | A) Guidance about the importance of valuing and validating the dialectical variations students use at home and in the community (e.g., providing feedback that does not position General American English as superior to other dialects) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
37 | B) Information about unique features of dialectical variations of English such as African American English which teachers may need to know in order to support students in using General American English (e.g., variable use of plural and possessive S) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
38 | C) Guidance is provided on how activities may be differentiated based on need to ensure students using multiple dialects are adequately challenged and can experience success | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
39 | D) Guidance on fully including multilingual learners is woven throughout the lessons (not only in an appendix or external resource) | |||||||
40 | G14. Materials provide guidance and resources to support teachers in meeting the needs of multilingual learners | A) Guidance is provided around how to ensure optimal access to instruction for multilingual learners (e.g., vocabulary support, visuals, use of cognates, building/activating background knowledge in students' dominant language) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
41 | B) Guidance is provided on how to fully include multilingual learners during lesson activities with different levels of support depending on English language development (e.g., alternate response formats, scaffolding to support language use with sentence frames) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
42 | C) Resources are provided to help educators accelerate learning for multilingual learners by leveraging cross-linguistic similarities and explicitly teaching language components which are different (e.g., lists of cognates by unit/lesson, transfer guides of language structures and phonology) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
43 | D) Guidance on fully including multilingual learners is woven throughout the lessons (not only in an appendix or external resource) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
44 | G15. Materials provide guidance and resources to support teachers in meeting the needs of students with reading & writing difficulties and disabilities | A) Guidance is provided on how to scaffold instructional tasks to support optimal access and participation (prompting, retrieval cues built in, a more gradual release, sentence frames, oral participation first, differentiated practice, time management built in, etc.) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
45 | B) Guidance is provided on how activities may be differentiated based on need to ensure students are adequately challenged and can experience success (additional practice, reduced length expectations, more frequent feedback, chunking, paragraph frames, spelling support, etc.) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
46 | C) Guidance on fully including students with reading & writing difficulties and disabilities is woven throughout the lessons (not only in an appendix or external resource) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
47 | G16. Materials provide guidance and resources to support teachers in meeting the needs of students with advanced reading & writing skills | A) Guidance provided on how to challenge advanced learners during whole-group lessons (e.g., give them more complex or longer reading material, a focus on encoding or writing their responses, etc.) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
48 | B) Clear guidance is provided on what the "next steps" would be relative to a skill or concept being taught so that teachers know what to offer students who are already meeting the grade-level expectation | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
49 | C) Guidance is provided for educators around when to consider exempting students from some content because they have already demonstrated mastery | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
50 | D) Guidance on fully including students with advanced reading and writing skills is woven throughout the lessons (not only in an appendix or external resource) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
51 | GLOBAL RED FLAGS | |||||||
52 | Descriptor | K Score | 1st Score | 2nd Score | 3rd Score | 4th Score | 5th Score | |
53 | G17. Ideas for differentiation are present, but there is not guidance which suggested activities/lessons should be used with which learners based on their identified skill need | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
54 | G18. Guidance around supporting students with diverse learning needs is provided for only some lesson areas (e.g., multilingual learners, students with reading difficulties or disabilities, advanced learners) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
55 | G19. Guidance around supporting students with diverse learning needs is reactive in nature and does not prompt proactive planning for inclusion and support | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |