department of education

Office of the Secretary

proposed

PUBLIC NOTICE

502 Alignment of Local School District Curricula to the State Content Standards

A. Type of Regulatory Action Required

New Regulation

B. Synopsis of Subject Matter of the Regulation

The Secretary of Education intends to adopt 14 DE Admin. Code 502 Alignment of the Local School District Curricula to the State Content Standards in order to fulfill the requirements of 14 Del.C. §122(b)(6) concerning the development of a recommended statewide uniform curricula for all public schools in the State.

C. Impact Criteria

1. Will the new regulation help improve student achievement as measured against state achievement standards? The new regulation should help improve student achievement by requiring evidence that the school district curricula have been aligned with the State Content Standards.

2. Will the new regulation help ensure that all students receive an equitable education? The new regulation will help ensure that all students receive an equitable education by requiring that all students have access to curricula aligned with the State Content Standards...

3. Will the new regulation help to ensure that all students’ health and safety are adequately protected? The new regulation addresses curriculum alignment issues not students’ health and safety.

4. Will the new regulation help to ensure that all students’ legal rights are respected? The new regulation addresses curriculum alignment issues not issues of students’ legal rights.

5. Will the new regulation preserve the necessary authority and flexibility of decision making at the local board and school level? The new regulation will preserve the necessary authority and flexibility of decision making at the local board and school level.

6. Will the new regulation place unnecessary reporting or administrative requirements or mandates upon decision makers at the local board and school levels? The new regulation will add the initial reporting and administrative requirements of providing evidence of the alignment of the district curricula to the State Content Standards.

7. Will the decision making authority and accountability for addressing the subject to be regulated be placed in the same entity? The decision making authority and accountability for addressing the subject to be regulated will remain in the same entity.

8. Will the new regulation be consistent with and not an impediment to the implementation of other state educational policies, in particular to state educational policies addressing achievement in the core academic subjects of mathematics, science, language arts and social studies? The new regulation should enhance state educational policies addressing achievement in the core academic subjects of mathematics, science, language arts and social studies

9. Is there a less burdensome method for addressing the purpose of the regulation? The Delaware Code requires that the Department develop regulations on this issue.

10. What is the cost to the State and to the local school boards of compliance with the regulation? There may be some additional costs for the development of the aligned curricula depending on the level of alignment achieved thus far.

502 Alignment of Local School District Curricula to the State Content Standards

The purpose of this regulation is to provide a process through which all Delaware school districts demonstrate the alignment of their local curricula with the State Content Standards in the content areas specified in the 14 DE Admin. Code 501.

“Alignment Index” means a co relational measure of alignment between the Survey of Enacted Curriculum in a specific content area and the state standards used for comparison. The Wisconsin Center for Educational Research automatically calculates and reports the alignment index to schools and districts that use the surveys.

“Content Map” means a graphic depiction of local curriculum alignment automatically reported to schools and districts as part of the analysis of teacher survey data by the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research.

“Grade Level Expectations” means the documents created and officially released by the Delaware Department of Education for English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies which detail student learning objectives in each content area for kindergarten through grade twelve.

“Scope and Sequence” means a curriculum plan, usually in chart form, with a range of instructional objectives and skills organized according to the successive levels at which they are taught.

“Statewide Recommended Curriculum Frameworks” means the Delaware Recommended Curriculum documents comprised of Academic Content Standards, Clarifications and Grade Level Expectations posted to the Delaware Department of Education website.

“Survey of Enacted Curriculum (SEC)” means the alignment survey sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. The SEC is a teacher survey tool based on scientifically based research which yields detailed information about the alignment of classroom instruction to state academic standards and state assessments. The survey is available for English language arts, mathematics, and science at the present time. A survey for social studies is in development. An analysis of results by grade level, school and district is completed by the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research with formal reports provided to the participating schools and districts.

“Tile Chart” means a graphic depiction of local curriculum alignment automatically reported to schools and districts as part of the analysis of teacher survey data by the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research.

“Unit Summative Assessment” means a performance measure of skills and knowledge mastered by students at the end of a unit as a result of classroom instruction. Examples of unit assessment measures include but are not limited to teacher constructed unit tests and commercially published measures such as those provided by curriculum publishers.

All school districts shall provide evidence to the Department of Education that their school district curricula are aligned with the State Content Standards. As of 2006 State Content Standards exist in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, World Languages, Visual and Performing Arts, Health, Physical Education, Agriscience, Business Finance and Marketing Education, Technology Education, and the Family and Consumer Sciences. Content standards as developed by the Department in the future shall also be included under this section

School districts shall utilize the Statewide Recommended Curricula Frameworks including the State Content Standards, Content Area Clarifications and Grade Level Expectations as guides to the development or revision of their local curricula, syllabi, and Scope and Sequence in the content areas listed in 3.0.

5.1 Evidence of curriculum alignment to the State Content Standards shall be submitted to the Department of Education no later than twelve (12) months following the official release by the Department of Education of the Statewide Recommended Curriculum Frameworks in each content area.

5.2 Documentation of alignment of school district curriculum to the State Content Standards shall be submitted through evidence provided by the school districts on forms as developed and required by the Department of Education.

6.1 School districts shall be required to submit evidence of local curriculum alignment for each grade cluster (K-5, 6-8 and 9-12) from at least two of the permissible categories of evidence in 6.1.1 through 6.1.6. One of the two categories shall be the evidence described in 6.1.1. The second required category and any additional submitted evidence shall be selected by the district from categories 6.1.2 through 6.1.6. The school district may choose to vary the choice of the second category of evidence by grade cluster level. Evidence of alignment to each standard in a given content area shall be submitted.

6.1.1 Category 1 is a narrative describing the local curriculum alignment evidence and the extent to which it addresses all student subgroups. For English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies, a required element of this narrative shall be an analysis of school district disaggregated student performance data on state assessments over the most recent three year period of available state assessment data. 6.1.2 Category 2 is the Grade level result (all teachers in at least one grade per grade cluster K-5, 6-8 and 9-12) of the Survey of Enacted Curriculum for the content area under consideration. The SEC results shall demonstrate an Alignment Index of .50 or higher, and include a graphic summary including either a Tile Chart or Content Maps.

6.1.3 Category 3 is one unit of study from each marking period with a corresponding Unit Summative Assessment, showing the academic standards addressed. Evidence shall be from grades 3, 5, 8 and 10.

6.1.4 Category 4 is a description of the Scope and Sequence with a matrix of the primary academic standards addressed for each grade cluster.

6.1.5 Category 5 is an external formal curriculum alignment report detailing a review of local instruction and documentation of standards alignment. The contractor’s credentials shall be submitted.

6.1.6 Category 6 is a grade cluster Scope and Sequence with a sample unit from each grade cluster, combined with student assessment results. Evidence of alignment of formative student progress to the State Content Standards shall be required. For districts using commercial student progress assessments, evidence shall include evidence of alignment of student progress assessments to the Delaware content standards.

6.2 Required documentation for specific student subpopulations

6.2.1 As part of its submitted evidence, the district shall make detailed comments on the extent to which any modification or enhancement of the instructional program for specific subgroups such as students with disabilities, gifted students, English language learners or any other special population of students is aligned to the State Content Standards in the content area where there have been modifications or enhancements.

All school districts shall describe and document to the Department of Education the method and the level of involvement in the alignment process by their building administrators, teachers and specialists.

Each district shall resubmit evidence of alignment with the State Content Standards on forms developed and required by the Department of Education between three and five years from the initial approval and on a recurring cycle of three to five years as determined by the Department of Education. Further provided, the district shall be required to present evidence of curriculum alignment if there are major changes to the approved curricula.