Targeted Resources

Recommendation 2—Instruction,
Assessment, and Intervention

Targeted Resources Related to Instruction

These online resources are organized to serve as catalysts for discussion and professional collaboration targeted to the topic of instruction.

Related Links

Academic Literacy: A Statement of Competencies Expected of Students Entering California’s Public Colleges and Universities, (PDF; Outside Source), Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California, Spring 2002.
ASSET Inc, (Outside Source). Achieving Student Success Through Excellence in Teaching is an independent, nonprofit education reform initiative dedicated to continually improvement of the teaching and learning process and initial efforts in K-8 science and technology education.
Backwards Mapping Tool, (Outside Source) is a Windows®-based tool that provides the basic steps of backwards mapping on the TICAL Web site.
Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (BICS and CALP), (Outside Source), Jim Cummins’ explanation.
Board resolution: Adolescent Literacy, California Department of Education.
Breaking Ranks in the Middle, (Outside Source), Differentiating Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms, Appendix 2 in Reston, Va., National Association of Secondary School Principals, 2006.
California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE), (Outside Source) (posted October 8, 2008) is a non-profit organization incorporated in 1976 to promote bilingual education and quality educational experiences for all students in California.
California Learning Resource Network (CLRN), (Outside Source) provides links to standards-aligned software, video, and online learning resources.
Calisphere, (Outside Source): a University of California collection of digital resources that includes themed collections to support many of the California standards.
CalSTAT (Technical Assistance and Training), (Outside Source) Leadership Sites highlight schools that are providing quality educational experiences to special education students. Many of the featured sites are middle schools.
Complex Reasoning, Original Taking Center Stage, Appendix 3-D
Content Standards for Middle Grades, California Department of Education.
Creating Literacy-Rich Schools for Adolescents, by Gay Ivey and Douglas Fisher, ASCD, 2006.
Critical Links, (PDF; Outside Source), Visual and Performing Arts.
Curriculum Calibration, Original Taking Center Stage, Appendix 2-C.
Curriculum and instruction Resources, California Department of Education Virtual Library.
Differentiated Instruction: tools and links from SchoolsMovingUp (Outside Source), WestEd initiative.
Differentiating Instruction—Finding Manageable Ways to Meet Individual Needs (Outside Source) Scott Willis and Larry Mann, ASCD Curriculum Update, Winter 2000.
Effects of Multiple Intelligences on Instruction, Original Taking Center Stage, Appendix 8-A.
Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in the Differentiated Classroom, (PDF; Outside Source), Rick Wormli, Westerville, Ohio, National Middle School Association, 2006.
Four-Point Scoring Guides, Original Taking Center Stage, Appendixes 3-F and 3-G.
How the Brain Learns: A Classroom Teacher's Guide, Sousa, David, Reston, Va.: National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1995.
Just for the Kids Best Practice Studies and Institutes: Findings from 20 States, (Outside Source), Austin, Tex.: The National Center for Educational Accountability, April 2006.
Lesson plan resources, (Outside Source): PBS Teachers offers free lesson plans in literature, health, mathematics, science, and social studies.
Marzano Research Laboratory, (Outside Source), Free Resources.
National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth, (Outside Source), Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners. Edited by Diane August and Timothy Shanahan. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 2006.
NTCE Principles of Adolescent Literacy Reform: A Policy Brief, produced by the National Council of Teachers of English, (PDF; Outside Source), April 2006.
Pacing Guides for mathematics (example from Long Beach Unified School District), (PDF; Outside Source)
Questioning Strategies that Lead Higher-Level Thinking Skills, Caught in the Middle, 16-17.
Reading for Understanding: Toward an R&D Program in Reading Comprehension, (PDF; Outside Source), Catherine Snow. Santa Monica: RAND, 2002.
Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Insights from a Neurologist and Classroom Teacher, (Outside Source), Judy Willis, Arlington, Va., Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2006.
Six-Trait Analytical Writing Assessment Model, (Outside Source), Rubrics for writing, Portland, Ore., Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL), 1998.
Student Assessment Continuum Based on Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy (DOC; 24KB; 1p.) Original Taking Center Stage, Figure 3-2.
Successful Strategies for Middle and High School Inclusion, (Outside Source), an online presentation archived on SchoolsMovingUp.
Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction—Reports of the Subgroups, (PDF; Outside Source), National Reading Panel.
Teaching Every Student (TES), (Outside Source) section of the CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology), (Outside Source) Web site supports educators in learning about and practicing universal design for learning (UDL).
Teacher Guide for the California Writing Standards Tests at Grades 4 and 7, (PDF; 338KB; 56pp.)
The Magnificent Eight: AVID Best Practices Study, (Outside Source)
The Mystery of Teaching Science . . . Solved!, (Outside Source), Christian Science Monitor, December 1, 2005.
The NCEA Core Practice Framework: An Organizing Guide to Sustained School Improvement , (Outside Source), by the National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA), 2009.
The Neglected “R”, (PDF; Outside Source): The Need for a Writing Revolution (College Board).
Thinking Visually with WebQuests, (Outside Source) (thinking maps)
Understanding by Design Order Form, (Outside Source order form ), Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. Alexandria, Va., Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2005.
Visual and Performing Arts, How to include.
Writing Prompt Guidelines for Teacher Teams, Original Taking Center Stage, Appendix 3-E.
Wolfram MathWorld, (Outside Source) has detailed materials on algebra, calculus, probability, and more.

Note: Taking Center Stage—Act II (TCSII) includes references and links to third party resources (outside links) that middle grades educators and stakeholders may find thought provoking and a catalyst for discussion and professional collaboration in their quest to improve their schools. Specific references or links by the California Department of Education in TCSII to third party resources, products, processes, or services, or the presence of trade names, trademarks, or other vendor identifiers, do not constitute assessment or imply endorsement by the Middle Grades Improvement Office or the California Department of Education.

Targeted Resources Related to Assessment

Targeted Resources Related to Intervention

Targeted Resources Index