The Future Ready Framework: Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

Of the seven gears of the Future Ready Framework, the Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment gear is the gear that currently receives most of my attention and effort. This gear calls for curriculum and instruction to be standards-aligned. In an effort to provide and education aligned to the Common Core standards, my district has made several curricular changes recently including the purchase of new instructional programs. Unfortunately, with a surplus of new programs being adopted, it's been very difficult for the teachers to deliver the high-quality instruction that we strive to provide while we're trying to learn the nuances of these new programs.

This gear also calls for assessment that drives instruction which is something that I hold near and dear to my heart. Sometimes I feel that typical paper and pencil assessments are used as the only means of assessment at the end of every unit. The data from these assessments is entered into a grade book, but little else is done with it. With first graders, I feel that small "temperature checks" used throughout instruction is a much more purposeful and meaningful way to assess. This way you can continuously adjust your instruction depending on the results of assessments; pushing forward when students show mastery and slowing instruction or reteaching when students show a lack of understanding. Purposeful assessment leads to more meaningful instruction.