Teacher prep programs frequently teach candidates to write lesson plans from scratch, often encouraging them to select the topics or standards to teach, activities to use, and means of assessing student learning. Recent research highlights the powerful difference that high-quality curricula can make in student outcomes.1 Districts are increasingly moving toward requiring high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) in the classroom, which typically include existing lesson plans. For candidates, and especially those preparing to student teach in these districts, the more relevant skill is less being able to build a lesson from scratch, but rather to skillfully adapt and use lessons from a high-quality curriculum to meet the needs of their students.
Southeastern Louisiana University
As Louisiana moves toward requiring school districts to integrate HQIM, the prep program has to shift too, preparing candidates to implement guided curricula rather than develop their own. Starting in fall 2024, lower-level undergraduate courses will embed at least one assignment that integrates HQIM in a meaningful way (e.g., comparing and contrasting two curricula on math, or comparing two lessons on the same topic from different curricula). The faculty will work in small groups to develop these assignments, which program leaders will review. The Louisiana Department of Education has helped the prep program gain access to digital and print materials for a range of curricula in use. The state also requires that districts publish the curricula they are using, which helps prep programs identify which curricula are most relevant for their candidates to learn given where they are likely to do student teaching or be hired.
Tennessee
The Tennessee Literacy Success Act of 2021 requires prep programs to provide not only reading instruction focused on foundational literacy skills but also preparation on how to provide literacy instruction using HQIM. This work includes a transition from “lesson planning” to “lesson preparation,” in which candidates learn to “adapt the lesson plans in the approved curriculum for the diversity of learners and classroom context,” as Dr. Jennifer Nelson, senior director of educator preparation with the Tennessee Department of Education, described this work.
To support prep programs’ HQIM transition, the state worked with Deans for Impact to create modules that programs can embed in their coursework (or they can develop their own approach). The state is also hosting annual convenings with both prep programs and their district partners; the second one in fall 2024 will focus on foundational literacy skills, HQIM, and trauma-informed instruction. Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is supporting this HQIM work through a cross-state community of practice, the Instructional Materials/Professional Development network, which includes an educator prep program working group.
Tennessee begins its reviews of prep programs’ adherence to these new requirements in fall 2024. The state will join existing CAEP accreditation visits but will layer on their own requirements to look for evidence of implementation of HQIM. In the first round, the state will look for evidence in the syllabus that instruction on HQIM is embedded in coursework (e.g., programs will be asked to indicate where in the lecture schedule or course assignments they teach elements of HQIM and alignment with standards), and in future reviews the state will look for more detailed evidence with on-site reviews.
- Read more about the Tennessee High Quality Instructional Materials network, facilitated by Deans for Impact
- Tennessee State Board Literacy and Specialty Area Standards for Educator Preparation
- Best for All Central website includes numerous resources, including an HQIM implementation framework and recording of a roundtable discussion about how to use HQIM to meet the needs of all learners
- Deans for Impact HQIM Module Overview and Scope and Sequence; these modules are designed for prep programs
- Tennessee Educator Prep Program Literacy Resources; scroll to the bottom to see resources
- Using High-Quality Instructional Materials—materials designed for all teachers
References
- Chingos, M. M., & Whitehurst, G. J. (2012). Choosing Blindly: Instructional Materials, Teacher Effectiveness, and the Common Core. Brookings Institution; Jackson, K., Makarin, A. (2016-2017). Can online off-the-shelf lessons improve student outcomes? Evidence from a field experiment. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 10(3), 226-254. https://www.nber.org/papers/w22398; Kane, T. (2016). Never judge a book by its cover—use student achievement instead. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/never-judge-a-book-by-its-cover-use-student-achievement-instead/