“It’s not just a knowledge-rich curriculum. It’s a knowledge-rich curriculum that is carefully sequenced. The ideal is that when we put a text in front of a child for the child to read, they have all the background knowledge in place to read the text and comprehend that text comfortably, but maybe not quite everything, so they have to reach just a little bit.” @DTWillingham explains the importance of coherent learning in the curriculum, in order to support reading comprehension and enable new learning. As soon as you understand this principle, you become a curriculum person. This kind of coherence is only possible if there is central planning in a school’s curriculum. If every teacher is left to his or her own devices in developing curriculum, you can have every teacher introducing the same content, and a failure to expose kids to maximal breadth and depth of content in K-5. Core learning about the world (seasons and animal adaptations, history fundamentals, civics basics) are foundations, too… foundations for comprehension and foundations for more sophisticated learning. From the a discussion of NAEP outcomes hosted by @JHUEdPolicy:

Year 1 implementation of HQIM has its challenges, but our ELA committee is invested in leading this work! 🤩 @mrsnagaj @JamieSmithESC

Continuing to learn and grow together in year one of @Amplify implementation with @JamieSmithESC @mandy_steward1 and our 4/5 teachers! #WEareonthemove