1. Bringing the Standards to Life with Aligned, Meaningful Curriculum
Dr. Nikolai Vitti, Superintendent
Summer Standards Institute, Fort Lauderdale
July 2016

2. The research is clear. Students learn primarily through interactions with teachers and instructional materials. Strong materials impact student learning.
“…choice of instructional materials can have an impact as large as or larger than the impact of teacher quality.” “…improving teacher quality is challenging, expensive, and time-consuming, making better choices among available instructional materials should be relatively easy, inexpensive, and quick.”
Chingos and Whitehurst, “Choosing Blindly: Instructional Materials, Teacher Effectiveness and the Common Core,” Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings, (April 10, 2012),

3. Our Journey to Aligned, Meaningful Curriculum in Duval
Defined Our Challenge
Partnered with TNTP to diagnose current practices in HR.
Through teacher surveys, saw curriculum materials would be a challenge as we implemented the new standards, but we decided to focus on instructional leadership development.
Built Our Capacity
Developed a vision for excellent instruction and rebooted sitting principal training to focus on instruction – especially the shifts in standards.
System focus on instruction led to collective agreement that curriculum materials were weak.
TNTP supported us with an IMET and a multi-year curriculum strategy.
Launched Our Strategy
Engaged teachers and school admin to select more aligned materials in K-5.
Overcame political pushback linked to new standards.
Implemented EngageNY in ELA (CKLA, EL) and math (Eureka).
Applied IMET criteria in our ongoing adoption decisions.
Deepening Our Work
Launching improved professional learning structures to support teachers as they implement our core curriculum.
Implementing our new adoption in 6-8 ELA (Collections).
Continuing to set a higher bar for materials with upcoming adoptions.

4. During the school year, we quickly saw differences in the alignment of student work in our elementary schools.

5. We have also seen a steady improvement in teachers’ perception of our instructional culture.

6. Though we still have lots of work to do, especially in reading where growth is slower to achieve, we are most excited by the promising gains in student achievement that we have realized in just our first year of implementation.
Grade Level/Subject
District Growth
State Growth
3rd Grade Reading +4 +1
4th Grade Reading -2
5th Grade Reading
3rd Grade Math +6 +3
4th Grade Math
5th Grade Math +2
District increased proficiency in 4/7 categories
District outpaced state for growth in 5/7 categories and tied in 1/7
District increased ranking among Big 7 districts in 4/7 categories

7. We have learned a lot through this work
We have learned a lot through this work. Here are some of our key lessons learned.
Seek a partner who can push you beyond the way you have “always done” adoptions unless there is an strong internal capacity and political advocacy for reform.
Embrace selection criteria that set a high bar for alignment and apply them with a range of local stakeholders. Do not assume that all “approved” materials are created equally; empower educators and admin to select better resources with better selection criteria. Use EdReports and high quality curriculum reviews!
The work is just beginning when you adopt great materials. Think proactively about your plan for implementation – including educator support, progress monitoring and community communications – to ensure success.