California Department of Education
Taking Center Stage – Act II

Initiatives Crosswalk

Recommendation 2—Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention

Use this chart to research key components of state and national initiatives that relate to instruction, assessment, and intervention.

Recommendation 2—Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention. 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.


Initiatives that Support Student Achievement
Key Components That Relate to Recommendation 2 of the California Department of Education's 12 Recommendations for Middle Grades Success
Essential Program Components for School Improvement:

Essential Program Components (EPC) #1, 5, 7, and 8

  1. Use State Board of Education (SBE) adopted English language arts and mathematics instructional materials, including intervention materials. Elementary and middle school levels: The school/district provides the most recent SBE-adopted core instructional programs, including accelerated interventions, for reading/language arts and mathematics, documented to be in daily use in every classroom with materials for every student.
  1. Student achievement monitoring system
  1. Ongoing teacher collaboration by grade level

  2. Lesson and course pacing schedule (grades K-8) and master schedule flexibility for sufficient numbers of intervention courses (grades 9-12)

No Child Left Behind(NCLB)

  • Determine which educational programs and practices have been proven effective on the basis of rigorous scientific research. The No Child Left Behind Act supports scientifically based reading instruction.
  • Teach all children to read.
  • Use curriculum-based measurement for progress monitoring.
  • Use assessment data to determine AYP.
  • Provide intervention for struggling adolescent readers.
  • Implement Response to Intervention (RtI) (Outside Source).

National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform
(Outside Source)
California Schools to Watch™-Taking Center Stage (STW-TCS)
School Self-Study and Rating Rubric
(DOC; 413KB; 9pp.)

Academic Excellence #2, 4, and 5

  1. Alignment of instruction and curriculum to state standards;
  1. variety of challenging and engaging learning activities;
  1. variety of assessments;

Developmental Responsiveness #3

Teachers foster curiosity, creativity and the development of social skills in a structured and supportive environment.

Social Equity #2

Students are provided the opportunity to use many and varied approaches to achieve and demonstrate competence and mastery of standards.

Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) (Outside Source)

Essential Elements 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

  1. The school must be committed to full implementation of the AVID program with students enrolled in the AVID year-long (9-10 months) elective class provided as an integral part of the academic school day. (If the AVID elective is offered in a “zero” period, there must be other academic classes offered at that same time.)
  2. A strong relevant writing and reading curriculum provides a basis for instruction in the AVID elective class. Writing-to-learn activities, including formal and informal practice, are the methods of instruction used daily.
  3. Inquiry, including levels of questions and tutorial preparation, is used in the AVID class to engage students with their own thinking processes.
  4. Collaboration, including structured AVID tutorials (as opposed to one-on-one tutoring or homework study sessions), is used to bring students together to develop their critical thinking skills and enable them to take responsibility for their own learning.
  5. A sufficient number of tutors (recommended ratio is 1 tutor to 7 students) must be available in the AVID class to facilitate student access to rigorous curriculum. Tutors should be students from colleges and universities, and they must be trained to implement the WIC-R (writing, inquiry, collaboration and reading) methodologies used in AVID.
  6. AVID program implementation and student progress must be monitored through the AVID Data System, and results must be analyzed to ensure success. All sites must complete the online General Data Collection, the online Certification Initial Self-Study and Certification Self-Study. High school sites with seniors must complete the Senior Data Collection.
GEAR UP (Outside Source) School Self-Assessment Rubric (PDF; 92 KB; 15 pp.) High Quality Teaching; Intensive Academic Support
Breaking Ranks in the Middle
(Outside Source)

Cornerstone Strategy #5

Ensure that teachers assess the individual learning styles and needs of students and tailor instructional strategies and multiple assessments accordingly.

Turning Points Principle
(Outside Source)
  • Teach a curriculum grounded in standards.
  • Improve learning, teaching, and assessment for all students.

  • Use instructional methods designed to prepare all students.
This We Believe
(Outside Source)
and
Fundamentals for Student Success in the Middle Grades
(Outside Source)
  • Curriculum is relevant, challenging, integrative, and exploratory.

  • High expectations are set for every member of the learning community.

Comprehensive School Reform Quality Center—
Works in Progress:
A Report on Middle and
High School Improvement
Programs (PDF; Outside Source)

Key issues in middle school:

  • Assessment and evaluation programs promote quality learning.
  • Multiple learning and teaching approaches respond to their diversity.
  • Students and teachers are engaged in active learning.

Initiatives Crosswalk Index

Back to Top