California Department of Education
Taking Center Stage – Act II

Chapter Two
Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention

"It is important for us to remember that reading and math are gateway skills, fundamental to success in other subjects, in higher education, and the workplace. If a student does not have these basic skills, it is imperative that schools focus on helping our kids acquire them. However, the foundational skills of math and reading needn’t be limiting and can and should be taught as part of a broad and enriching curriculum. It is possible to integrate our high math and reading standards into the study of history, social studies, music, art and science, and excellent teachers throughout California are doing just that."1

Recommendation: Engage middle grades students with challenging lessons and opportunities to think critically and demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways. Differentiate strategies to deliver standards-based, grade-level instruction that reflects individual student needs and results from ongoing common assessments. Use data on individual students’ progress to deliver appropriate, accelerated classroom and schoolwide academic interventions and enrichment opportunities.

Instruction, assessment, and intervention each have strong ties to academic excellence. Although many people associate assessment with accountability (see Chapter Eleven, "Accountability"), assessment is, in fact, critical to instruction and intervention.

The three sections of this chapter mirror the three questions Dr. Rick DuFour encourages professional learning communities to use to improve student achievement.

  • The first—what do we want students to know?—forms the basis of the section on instruction.
  • The second—how will we know when they learn it?—guides the section on assessment.
  • The third—how do we respond when students experience difficulty?—is the focus of the discussion in the section on interventions.2

Content Sections

Instruction | Assessment | Interventions | Appendices

Instruction - How to Teach What all Students Must Learn

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Assessment - How to Know When Each Student has Acquired the Knowledge and Skills

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Interventions - How to Respond When Students Experience Difficulty

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Footnotes
1Jack O’Connell, "Superintendent O’Connell Responds to NCLB Study,"California Department of Education Press Release, March 28, 2006.
2Richard DuFour, "What Is a Professional Learning Community?" (Outside Source; PDF) Educational Leadership, Vol. 61, No. 8 (May 2004) 6-11.

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