Coherence in English Language Arts and Mathematics Instructional Systems Across the United States

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wang, Elaine Lin

Contributor:

Berglund, Tiffany

Kaufman, Julia H.

Opfer, V. Darleen

Schweig, Jonathan

Language:

English

Place of Publication:

RAND Corporation 2023

Summary:

Standards-based reform is a key feature of U.S. education policy. Several decades ago, scholars posited that if states set ambitious standards and then aligned curriculum, assessments, and professional development (PD) to those standards, teaching and learning would improve. However, the focus on establishing standards has often overshadowed the important idea that standards are effective only if the other inputs in an instructional system (e.g., curriculum, assessments, PD) are in alignment with those standards and coherent with each other. Without that alignment and coherence, teachers may perceive different messages about what to teach and how to teach it. At worst, those messages can conflict, leading to both fragmented instruction and reduced learning opportunities. In this report, researchers aim to contribute to evidence on the extent to which an instructional system is coherent and provides consistent and clear messages to teachers about instruction, including messages about how to address the learning needs of traditionally underserved students. The research team uses survey responses from a nationally representative sample of public school kindergarten through grade 12 (K–12) English language arts and mathematics teachers to present a portrait of instructional system coherence in schools across the country during the 2021–2022 school year.