Standards-aligned curriculum combined with curriculum-focused professional development are associated with statistically significantly higher student performance and educator understanding of academic standards, while providing educators with generic strategies divorced from their curriculum makes it less likely they will apply their learning and impact student achievement (Taylor et al., 2015).
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction aims to improve support for all teachers by ensuring that districts have the information they need to select high-quality instructional materials and to provide professional learning that supports effective implementation of those materials in English language arts and mathematics.
This guide is meant to provide information to school districts so that they can more easily identify providers of materials-focused professional learning and make the best choice for their unique, local context.