Scaling High-Quality Learning Through a Network of Supports and Aligned Assessments

• In Event: Anchoring Assessments in Instruction: Lessons From States Implementing Instructionally Relevant Assessment Design Principles in Science

Abstract

Objectives and Perspectives
Louisiana has had a more centralized education system than other states, which has supported the department of education in implementing a strategic, statewide push to align curriculum and instruction, supported by a coherent system of professional development. This push has been driven, in part, by the goal to provide all students–especially those from racially, linguistically, and socioeconomically minoritized backgrounds–access to high-quality science instruction.

In 5 years, Louisiana adopted its science standards–modeled on A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012)–and implemented a coherent set of instructional materials, teacher professional learning, and assessment to support classroom instruction aligned to those standards. This process began with a clear signal from the state in terms of instructional priorities and professional learning, in keeping with the evidence on the impact of coordination in supporting education reform (McClure & Aldridge, 2022). The state supports this work with a cadre of Teacher Leader Advisors who receive funding to train their fellow teachers in the instructional materials and approaches that the state wants to adopt.

Recently, Louisiana state leaders have shifted their focus toward state assessment design, including on-demand items and performance assessments that reflect the type of three-dimensional learning present in the Louisiana Student Standards for Science. This step provides the final bit in the key that can help unlock the potential for a coherent statewide system of curriculum and assessment. By adapting the design principles shared in presentation 1 to reflect the goals and priorities of the state of Louisiana, the state’s assessments will provide a roadmap for the type of teaching and learning that the state wants students to receive.

Data and Methods
With the support of a research partner, Louisiana documented their move toward a coherent framework for instruction over the course of two years. The research partner analyzed documents collected from professional learning, state-provided documents, and qualitative interview and focus group data from educators and other stakeholders involved in implementation. They provided Louisiana with an analysis of this data to inform the next iteration of the project.

Emerging learnings and significance
Coherent teaching, learning, and assessment is an educational goal that does not yet exist broadly throughout the United States (Boesdorfer, Arias, Mull, & Lieberum, 2020), even though it was first delineated as a national priority over twenty years ago in Knowing What Students Know (2001). Louisiana provides one model for developing this coherence between instruction and assessment, with an emphasis on clear state priorities, professional learning, and teacher leadership as key levers (Hayes, Wheaton, & Tucker, 2019). In the past 5 years, Louisiana state leaders and researchers have seen an increase in the adoption of high-quality instructional materials aligned to the state’s science standards. As the state continues to incentivize instructional shifts for all students, students from historically marginalized racial, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds can experience a sharpening, deepening, and broadening of science learning, rather than the narrowing of curriculum that has traditionally been the byproduct of testing incentives (Berliner, 2011).

Author

• Breigh Rhodes, Northwestern University