The Mississippi Department of Education has created universal definitions for words commonly used when evaluating and adopting high-quality instructional materials. These words are listed and defined below.
In Fall 2017, the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) adopted the following definition for High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM). This definition provides a frame of reference all Mississippi public schools and districts should use when selecting resources for classroom use.
Mississippi defines High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) as materials that
- are aligned with the Mississippi College- and Career- Readiness Standards,
- are externally validated,
- are comprehensive, and
- include knowledge-building complex texts, problems, and assessments.
HQIM can be used to identify students’ areas of strength and opportunities for growth, which are sequentially mapped and designed to prepare students to graduate ready for college and the workforce, educative for teachers, and accessible to students with differentiated needs.
The Mississippi Department of Education defines research-based professional learning as having the following attributes:
- is focused on content
- incorporates active learning
- is collaborative and generally job-embedded
- includes coaching and mentoring
- offers opportunities for feedback and reflection
- is generally ongoing and of sustained duration
Standards that are concise, written descriptions of what students are expected to know and be able to do by the end of a course, grade level, or grade space that are adopted.
Educator Preparation Providers (EPPs) are colleges or schools of education that prepare candidates for teacher and/or administrator licensure. The programs are degrees or endorsements the EPP offers. All programs must be approved by the State Board of Education.
Delivering the curriculum as designed.
School textbooks and other educational materials are used as the basis for instruction, including combinations of textbooks, learning kits, and digital resources (Miss. Code Ann. § 37-43-1).
Enliven and extend the curriculum; use principles of expert practice; or based on student needs in the specific learning context to meet the whole group, small group, or individuals.
The Lexile Framework for Reading measures reading ability and text complexity on the same scale. A Lexile reader measure represents a student’s reading ability on the Lexile scale. A Lexile text measure represents a text’s difficulty level on the Lexile scale.
Quantile measures range from below 0Q to above 1400Q and span the math skills and concepts taught in kindergarten through high school.
Quantile measures explain the following:
- which skills and concepts students are ready to learn
- the level of success students are expected to have with an upcoming skill or concept
- how students are growing in mathematics on a single scale across grade levels
A scoring tool that describes the three gateways and corresponding criteria that determines the quality of instructional materials.