The Mississippi Department of Education has established universal definitions for terms commonly used when evaluating and adopting high-quality instructional materials. These terms are listed and defined below.
In the Fall of 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 help identify students’ strengths and areas for improvement. It creates a sequential plan designed to prepare students for college and the workforce. This approach is beneficial for teachers and is accessible to ALL students.
School textbooks and other educational materials serve as the foundation for instruction, incorporating a variety of resources such as textbooks, learning kits, and digital tools (Miss. Code Ann. § 37-43-1).
The scoring tool outlines three gateways, each with specific criteria for evaluating the quality of instructional materials. Each rubric is tailored for a particular content area and grade band while sharing some common elements. This rubric assesses how effectively instructional materials align with the Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards (MCCRS) for a given content area. It includes essential considerations for high-quality instructional materials and delineates three gateways for evaluating these materials. Each gateway consists of criteria and related indicators, along with guiding questions to aid the evaluation process.
Standards 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 span that are adopted.
The term STANDARDS-ALIGNED INSTRUCTION directly correlates with the design of High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) and the use of a text-first approach. High-quality texts are the central focus of lessons, are at the appropriate grade level text complexity, and are accompanied by quality tasks aligned to the MCCRS in service to grow literacy skills. Click here to download a comparison chart between Standards-Based vs Standards-Aligned Instruction.
Curriculum adoption can sometimes cause anxiety among educators and administrators across the district. It’s essential to get this initial step right—both what you choose and how you choose it are critical. Adopting a new curriculum is a complex process that involves many steps and stakeholders.
During the first year, teachers should follow the curriculum as intended, using provided lessons and supports without modification to avoid inconsistencies that can hinder student achievement. Encourage teachers to trust and implement the curriculum with fidelity, and provide them with frequent, targeted professional learning to help address challenges. School and district leaders should monitor implementation, offer regular feedback, and guide teachers in maximizing HQIM for student success.
Once teachers demonstrate fidelity, they can begin to take ownership of unit and lesson planning, using integrity to meet the needs of all students and support grade-level mastery. District and school leaders must assess the quality of HQIM implementation through observations, assessments, teacher feedback, and student work, then use this data to develop curriculum-based professional learning plans that include collaborative planning time.
The Science of Reading encompasses the research conducted by experts, particularly cognitive and linguistic scientists, on how we learn to read. This body of knowledge reveals the processes that occur in the brain while reading and outlines the instructional strategies necessary to develop proficient reading skills.
Structured Literacy refers to a method of reading instruction that applies the Science of Reading in the classroom. It encompasses all the essential components identified by research as crucial for successful reading development. Structured Literacy goes beyond phonics; it includes a broad range of skills. The Simple View of Reading (Gough and Tunmer, 1986) and Scarborough’s Rope Model (Scarborough, 2001) provide frameworks for understanding and identifying the principles of Structured Literacy.
The Lexile Framework for Reading assesses both reading ability and text complexity using the same scale. A Lexile reader measure indicates a student’s reading ability on this scale, while a Lexile text measure reflects the difficulty level of a text.
Quantile measures range from below 0Q to above 1400Q, covering the math skills and concepts taught from kindergarten through high school.
Quantile measures explain the following:
- which skills and concepts students are prepared to learn,
- the expected level of success students will achieve with an upcoming skill or concept, and
- how students are growing in mathematics on a single scale across grade levels
Educator Preparation Providers (EPPs) are institutions that prepare candidates for teacher or administrator licensure. The programs consist of degrees or endorsements offered by the EPP. All programs require approval from the State Board of Education.