Insight Help Center
Instructional Planning for Student Growth
Formal and informal assessments of what students are learning should guide teachers to adjust what they teach to ensure all kids succeed. In this Insight survey domain, teachers report whether they share student assessments or receive instructional planning support to make sense of student assessment data to improve their instruction.
Recommendations
Based on our extensive experience, TNTP recommends the following as evidence-based practices for this domain:
- Adopt a rigorous academic curriculum, in which students do the thinking during lessons and all students have access to grade-appropriate assignments, that also provides guidance around scaffolding and differentiating for English Learners and students with learning and thinking differences.
- At the beginning of the year, engage teachers in a goal-setting process that begins with the end in mind: goals for student learning based on rigorous assessments, that drive year-long and daily planning.
- Create structures for content teachers to collaborate with other instructional specialists to set goals related to specific student needs (e.g., IEP goals, English language proficiency growth goals).
- Build time into the schedule and set clear goals and expectations for professional development and common planning/grade level collaboration.
- Schedule frequent planning meetings between instructional leaders and teachers to provide support with weekly and daily lesson planning based on the academically rigorous curriculum.
- Differentiate the content of planning meetings based on individual teachers’ needs.
- Observe implementation and provide feedback that is actionable and specific to the plan.
Resources
| Resource | Description |
| Resources for Selecting Instructional Materials | Resources for reviewing and evaluating instructional materials to ensure rigorous grade-level content |
| Instructional Strategies that Push Students to Own the Thinking | A collection of strategies and resources for teachers to encourage students to do rigorous thinking |
| ELA/ELC Framework, CA DOE | A sample framework developed to support and incorporate Common Core Standards with English Language Development standards |
| UnboundEd Content Guides | Teaching guides, videos, and podcasts that focus on the application of content related to the standards in the classroom |
| English Learner Success Forum |
A library of evidence-based resources and tools that support educators with adapting instructional materials to be more inclusive of the needs of multilingual learners |
| Comprehensive English Language Development Resources | A library of resources for supporting multi-lingual learners organized by topic |
| ELD Video Series Guidance for Teachers and Administrators | A collection of videos of classroom instruction that demonstrate integrated ELD instruction and designated ELD instruction |
| Instructional Strategies for Multilingual Learners in the Content Areas | A collection of strategies and resources to support multilingual learners with accessing content and developing language |
| Newcomer Toolkit, US DOE | A guide for educators and others who work directly with immigrant students and their families |
| Student Work Library | Examples of assignments that are strongly, partially, and weakly aligned with college and career-ready standards |
| Assessment Evaluation Tool | A tool from Student Achievement Partners to evaluate the quality of your assessments |
| Driven by Data 2.0: A Practical Guide to Improve Instruction by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo | A guide for school leaders on how to implement data-driven instruction to increase academic proficiency |
| Learning to Improve: How America’s Schools Can Get Better at Getting Better by Anthony S. Bryk, Louis M. Gomez, Alicia Grunow, and Paul G. LeMahieu | A book detailing a framework for education improvement to identify and scale up what is working |