Innovative Schools

Aligning Curriculum to Standards to Improve Student Achievement

Curriculum Alignment

Align Curriculum to State Standards to Improve Student Achievement

Innovative Schools has organized a team of Delaware-based curriculum experts to develop customized curriculum maps and representative instructional units for all subjects taught at your school.

The curriculum maps define the content to be taught in each subject area and demonstrate how the content links into Delaware’s state standards. The instructional units provide a view into how instruction should look in a standards-based classroom. This process follows the backward design model for curriculum development advocated by Delaware’s Department of Education and takes into consideration current research in each subject area and standards-based instructional practices to ensure that all content standards are taught.

Alignment of curriculum to Common Core or Delaware Prioritized Standards includes a description of course materials and a scope and sequence document for each required subject area in each grade to be aligned. The process of writing the scope and sequence documents and/or aligning the curriculum can be accomplished in one of two ways:

Option One: Collaborative Curriculum Alignment*

An Innovative Schools instructional specialist will work with teams of teachers from the school at each grade level for each subject area to document current curriculum, align the curriculum to standards, perform a gap analysis, and develop a plan to fill curricular gaps. This preferred option doubles as an exceptional professional development opportunity for teachers and increases ownership of curriculum documents.

Option Two: Comprehensive Curriculum Alignment*

Innovative Schools curriculum experts will develop a scope and sequence document for each required subject area in each grade level. The work will be based on conversations with teachers and course materials and will demonstrate alignment to standards in the format preferred by DDOE.

The benefits of curriculum alignment include:

• Alignment of instruction with state standards
• A clearly defined scope and sequence for each subject area
• Understanding of how instructional decisions contribute to students’ overall learning
• Communication and collaboration among teachers

Curriculum alignment work is time intensive, so schools are asked to reserve between three and six months for the process to be completed.

“Innovative Schools stepped in at a time when we were stretched quite thin working on our Charter modification application.  We were seeking to add a high school and needed assistance with getting a cogent and specific high school curriculum alignment for the application process in a very short time.  Dawn Downes worked closely with me to learn of our needs and facilitate her curriculum writers in preparing those guiding documents.  We set timelines for the curriculum maps to be accomplished which were met successfully.  The Innovative Schools staff was very open to my review and suggestions for changes as the draft documents became final.  At the DOE hearings in Dover, concerning the charter modification approval, Innovative Schools staff were present, ready to support Newark Charter School if necessary.  I could not have asked for better partners in this important process.”

Esther Jackson
Dean of Instruction
Newark Charter School