Coping with High-Stakes Testing: Deep Curriculum Alignment
Deep alignment is adjusting what is taught to align with what is measured on the high-stakes test. It increases the fit between what children learn and how they are assessed. Achievement is assured and gains are evident almost immediately. It is a complex process involving intensive effort and skill in curriculum design, delivery, and monitoring.
The topics covered during this two-day session include:
- Principles of alignment between the written, taught, and tested curriculum
- Rationale for curriculum alignment
- Foundational concepts of deep alignment
- Specialized terminology used in the deep alignment process
- Sociological perspective of cultural capital and how it relates to students and tests
You will also learn how to:
- Backload publicly-released test items into the curriculum
- Deconstruct test items
- Determine the context, content, and cognitive level for alignment
- Develop parallel test items
- Check for text/test alignment
- Design curriculum guides from state standards
- Develop a multi-year plan for curriculum review
- Design a curriculum guide format and its critical components
- Produce and use a validation matrix
- Create a curriculum plan
- Write a curriculum policy
The ultimate goal of this training is to provide educators with the ability to create a curriculum document which will guide teaching that will promote higher student achievement, as it is measured on high-stakes tests.
The training is site-specific, and we come to you. Your staff does not need to travel out-of-state for this outstanding professional development opportunity.
Questions? E-mail pdkprofessionaldevelopment@pdkintl.org.