LIBRARY OF STRATEGIES
Ensure content and skill alignment in accelerated course sequences
Root Cause: Curriculum is leading to inadequate student preparation
Area of Opportunity: Curriculum
Lever of Change: Advanced Coursework
SCENARIO
A district introduces a new College in the High School precalculus course offering college credit, but many students want to drop the course early, citing its difficulty. Upon reviewing the curriculum, it’s discovered that the course assumes mastery of Algebra II content that isn’t currently covered in the course. To address this, the Algebra II (and possibly Algebra I) curriculum guides need to be revised to ensure the necessary math standards are taught. In the meantime, precalculus teachers must address these gaps to support students and help them succeed.
Strategy overview
When accelerated courses are added to a sequence, they can reveal significant gaps in the content and skills students need to succeed. If these gaps aren’t addressed, students may enter the more rigorous course unprepared, lacking the foundational knowledge required to master the new standards. To prevent this, it’s essential to review and adjust the curriculum scope and sequence of preceding courses, ensuring they build the necessary skills and content for success in the accelerated course.
When do this
Anticipatory Approach
Start discussions in the Fall, using relevant data, to determine what new courses should be added to the catalog for the following year. This early planning allows time to review course standards, identify any content or skills gaps, and make necessary adjustments to pacing, as well as plan for professional development during the second semester.
Responsive Approach
If an accelerated course was added without addressing potential content or skills gaps, review the course standards when data shows students are unprepared. If this issue arises early in the semester, address gaps in real-time through student support, such as tutoring, or by adjusting the course pacing to cover missing standards. Simultaneously, apply the anticipatory approach to better prepare for future school years.
Implementation considerations
Anticipatory Approach
When adding an accelerated course to a sequence, bring together Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) for each course in the sequence to backward map to the new course. This process might require multiple sessions and could benefit from including district content supervisors or professional learning leaders.
- Deconstruct Standards: Start by deconstructing the content and skill standards of the new accelerated course with all participants to ensure everyone understands the expectations.
- Analyze Course Standards: Each team should analyze the standards for their course, identifying which are repeated at a higher level in the accelerated course and which are unique but foundational for future success.
- Review Past Performance: Evaluate the previous year’s performance on state or local assessments, focusing on key standards that scaffold toward success in the accelerated course.
- Adjust Pacing: Use alignment data and proficiency levels to adjust course pacing, ensuring adequate time is devoted to foundational and preparatory content and skills.
- Address Identified Gaps: If necessary, incorporate additional standards into a preceding course to proactively address any identified gaps.
- Plan Professional Development: Gauge teachers’ comfort levels with the standards and plan a year-long professional development series to support them. Consider identifying a teacher from this group to lead the new accelerated course and provide them with targeted professional development and collaboration opportunities with other experienced teachers.
Responsive Approach
If content or skills gaps are identified after students have started the accelerated course or at the end of the term, consider the following:
- Analyze Data: Review data to identify issues:
- Did most students struggle in the course?
- Was there a significant drop in enrollment from one course to the next?
- Have teachers reported that students are missing key prerequisite content or skills?
- Are test scores consistently low over time?
- Take Action: Once data confirms the need for changes, apply the anticipatory approach for the next term or year. If needed, bring teams together over the summer to address gaps identified during the data review.
This approach ensures that both proactive and reactive measures are in place to support student success in accelerated courses.
Additional resources
IN THE FIELD
Georgia’s K-12 Mathematics Standards: Learning Progressions 🔗
Some state departments of education have already mapped standards across course sequences, which can be a useful starting point for aligning courses to more rigorous, accelerated options. For example, the State of Georgia provides this resource that can help educators map out the necessary content and skills across courses in a sequence, ensuring students are well-prepared for advanced coursework.
TOOL
If you’re mapping to an Advanced Placement (AP) course, consider using the College Board’s Pre-AP Program for grades 9-10. This program is specifically designed to align with AP courses, helping to ensure that students build the necessary skills and content knowledge in preparation for the more rigorous AP coursework.
TOOL
This is an example of course materials that can be used to deconstruct an accelerated course when backwards planning.
