VAD Tool
Vertical
Alignment
Study
Created by Shelby Waller, Missy Mayfield, and Kathy Harvey, Region 9 ESC
Vertical
Alignment/TEKS
Clarification Document
Study
The Guidelines for Your Lane
Objectives
1. Pre-assess using the CSCOPE implementation rubric.
2. Build an understanding of the Vertical Alignment
Documents (VADs).
3. Identify which content standards are introduced or
transformed in a particular grade level.
4. Determine the differences in the cognitive and content
specificity for the student expectations from one grade
level or course to the next.
Pre-assessment of
Vertical Alignment
Document
Implementation
CSCOPE Implementation Rubric
What is my level of
implementation of the
Vertical Alignment
Document?
Rate the teachers in your district on their
knowledge of Vertical Alignment:
1. Teachers are unaware of the concept of vertical alignment and are unable
to discern gaps in textbooks, ancillary products, and/or specificity.
2. Teachers are aware of gaps in learning with incoming or outgoing students
but no action is taken. Teachers are individually working from grade level to
grade level.
3. Teachers are aware of gaps in learning with incoming or outgoing students.
There is minimal evidence of collaboration among teachers regarding
identified gaps..
4. Teachers are aware of gaps in learning with incoming or outgoing students
and routinely collaborate with other teachers regarding identified gaps.
Level 5
Implementation
5. Teachers continually look for and identify gaps in learning with incoming
and outgoing student by reflecting on the VADs, as well as data, and have
professional dialogue with colleagues through the PLC.
Build an Understanding of
the Vertical
Alignment/TEKS
Clarification Documents
Reviewing the Components
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ARTS
oK – 2nd
o3rd – 5th
o6th – 8th
oEnglish I – English IV
MATHEMATICS
o K – 2nd
o 3rd – 5th
o 6th – 8th
o Clarification Documents
oAlgebra I
oAlgebra II
oGeometry
oMath Models
oPre-Calculus
SCIENCE
o K – 2nd
o 3rd – 5th
o 6th – 8th
o Clarification Documents
oIntegrated Physics and Chemistry
oBiology
oChemistry
oPhysics
oEnvironmental Science
SOCIAL STUDIES/HISTORY
o K – 3rd
o 4th and 7th (Texas History)
o 5th, 8th and United States History
o 6th, World Geography and World History
o Clarification Documents
oEconomics
oGovernment
In this example, the strands
are written into the
knowledge and skills
statement.
The Student
Expectation is
written in bold
black.
This model of an ELA Vertical
Alignment Document shows an
example of a knowledge and skills
statement that spans the four high
school English courses.
Specificity
Specificity determines the
rigor and complexity of the
content that must be
provided through the
instruction.
Cognitive Specificity Verbs from the
knowledge and skills
statement as well as
the student
expectation are
highlighted to direct
teachers to the level at
which students should
be performing.
After the
Cognitive
Specificity, the
CONTENT is
highlighted in
ALL CAPS.
Specificity
determines the
rigor and
complexity of the
content that must
be provided
through
instruction.
Content Specificity Following the content in
ALLCAPS, is the “Including,
but not limited to,” bulleted
items.
“Including” means students
must be given learning
opportunities for each of the
bulleted items.
“…but not limited to,” means
instruction can go beyond
those items listed.
CSCOPE Specificity Resources
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
TAKS Information Booklets
TAKS Study Guides
Released TAKS Test
National and State Standards
AAAS – American Association for the
Advancement of Science
Early Childhood Research
Texas Social Studies Tool Kit
Charles A. Dana Center Tool Kit
State Resources: Content
State Trainings (MSTAR/ESTAR)
TEKS Clarification Documents contain the
same information found in a Vertical Alignment
Document:
title, strand, KS, SE, cognitive expectations,
content expectations, specificity, and
shading.
K&S
Statement
Student
Expectation
VERBS (Cognitive
Rigor)
Content
Specificity)
The purpose of the
TEKS Clarification
Document is to
provide further
specificity for high
school courses that
do not necessarily
align to specific
earlier courses.
Level 5 Processes and Tools
Vertical Alignment Study
Teachers continually look for and
identify gaps in learning with incoming
and outgoing students by reflecting on
the Vertical Alignment Documents, as
well as data, and have professional
dialogue with colleagues through the
Professional Learning Community.
Our Goal
Cognitive and Content
Specificity Across Grade Bands
The Vertical Alignment Study tool is used to
document introduced and transformed
student expectations as well as changes in
cognitive and content specificity from one
grade level to the next.
Teachers may analyze TEKS by STRAND or
by CSCOPE UNIT.
Completing the Tool
4th Grade Math
Geometry and Spatial Reasoning
First, complete the header of the document.
4th Grade Math
Geometry & Spatial Reasoning
4.9B
Find the identifying number and
letter for the student expectation.
Record it in the TEKS row of the
“MY LANE” column.
4th Grade Math
Geometry & Spatial Reasoning
4.9B
Connect, Use,
Verify
Find the verb or verbs
written below the
student expectation and
record them in the
cognitive specificity row
of “MY LANE”.
4th Grade Math
Geometry & Spatial Reasoning
4.9B
Connect, Use,
Verify
Locate the content
title written in ALL
CAPS. Record it in
the CONTENT
TITLE row of the
“MY LANE” column.
Congruency of
Transformations
4th Grade Math
Geometry & Spatial Reasoning
3.9A
4.9B
5.8B
Recognize,
Identify
Connect, Use,
Verify
Model,
Identify,
Generate
Congruent
Figures
Congruency of
Transformations
Congruency of
Transformations
Follow the same process to complete the AFTER column.
• Locate and write the TEKS Student Expectation
Number.
• Locate and write the VERBS.
• Locate and write the CONTENT Title.
Identify which Student
Expectations are introduced or
transformed in a particular
grade level.
Introduced or Transformed
TEKS
• An introduced Student Expectation
would start in “your lane” and
continue from there.
• A transformed Student Expectation
would stop in “your lane” or could be
an altered Student Expectation.
While 3.9A focused on
“congruency,” 4th grade is
the first time congruency
of TRANSFORMATIONS
Introduced
are introduced, which is
a completely NEW
concept.
Which best
describes
TEKS 4.9B ?
Introduced or
Transformed?
Identify which Student
Expectations are introduced or
transformed in a particular
grade level.
Why could this be considered
an introduced TEKS?
What type of TEKS could this
example represent?
What is the significance of
this particular situation?
What is the significance of
this type of alignment?
TEKS Clarification Documents
Science, Math, and History have
TEKS Clarification Documents
rather than VADs.
The Vertical Alignment Study tool
can also be used to study alignment
between a high school course that
has a clarification document and a
previous grade level. In this
example, a student expectation from
Geometry will be mapped back to 8th
grade.
This 8th grade Student
Expectation maps to the
specificity of geometry TEKS
in the Clarification Document.
Bridging to a VAD
Use the Vertical Alignment
Document to complete the
“before” column.
Bridging to a VAD
There may not be an
alignment of Student
Expectations for the
courses following this one.
Determine the differences in the
cognitive and content specificity for
the student expectation from one
grade level or course to the next.
Exploring Specificity
• Using the science example of the tool,
examine the three aligned student
expectations.
• Determine the differences in the cognitive and
content specificity for the student expectation
from one grade level or course to the next.
• Record findings in the last two rows on the
Vertical Alignment tool.
4th Grade Math
Geometry & Spatial Reasoning
3.9A
4.9B
5.8B
Recognize,
Identify
Connect, Use,
Verify
Model,
Identify,
Generate
Congruent
Figures
Congruency of
Transformations
Congruency of
Transformations
3rd Grade = Lower Blooms (knowledge/comprehension only)
4th Grade = Medium/High Blooms (moves into application/analysis/evaluation)
5th Grade = Lower/Medium Blooms (moves back to comprehension and application)
Summary: Cognitive level increases in 4th grade, but decreases in 5th due to more
difficult content in 5th.
3rd Grade = 2-D congruent figures only
4th Grade = Transformations introduced (translations, reflections, rotations)
5th Grade = Examples & non-examples of translations, reflections, & rotations on a
coordinate grid; one figures producing more than 1 transformation
Summary: content gets increasingly more difficult
Small Group Debrief
• How did the verbs change from one
grade level to the next?
• Were there any examples where
changes were not found? What does
that mean?
• Were there any changes in the content
title from one grade level to the next?
How did they change?
• What would happen if portions of the
specificity were omitted or moved to
another grade level?
ON TARGET
• Where does the
YAG-0-MATIC fit
into the bucket
analogy?
Bucket Analogy Revisited
•
•
•
•
What do the holes in the bucket represent?
What does the escaping water represent?
What type of curricular issue is this?
How did the leakage affect the lower grade band?
Why might this be sobering news for primary
campuses?
• Describe the cumulative effect of the leakage from
grade level to grade level. Who ends up holding the
bag?
• How might this leakage impact student performance
on TAKS?
VAD Study
Work
Session
Created by Shelby Waller, Missy Mayfield, and Kathy Harvey, Region 9 ESC
Work Session
• Get a partner.
• Decide on a content area or grade level that you &
your partner would like to explore with the Vertical
Alignment tool.
• Look at the alignment of three different student
expectations for a content area or grade level.
– Choose 3 SEs from a specific STRAND or…
– Choose 3 SEs from the next Unit’s IFD
Where do we go from here for Level 5
Implementation?
• VAD Study should be completed…
– Prior to the beginning of each school year if done by TEKS Strand
– Prior to each unit if done by Unit IFDs
• Results/findings/discoveries must be documented
–
–
–
–
PLC minutes
Grade level meetings
Vertical team meetings
Other???
• The findings from the study should …
– Guide professional dialogue
– Lead to better instructional decisions
– Lead to better prepared students
ON TARGET
Debriefing the YAG-O-MATIC
and the VAD Tool
•
Without a thorough
“debrief,” this TEKS
exercise is just a timeconsuming checklist that
has little value in
teachers’ eyes.
•
Coaches MUST help
teachers take their
discoveries and transfer
them to instruction.