Diagnostic data and other sources to inform your backwards plans

The best long-term and unit plans are informed by multiple sources. For example, you can use the following to understand your standards and grade level expectations for your students.

  • Diagnostic data. When collecting and analyzing data from diagnostic assessments you can determine how to tailor your long-term and unit plans to meet students’ needs. For instance, you can decide where best to begin instruction, what pre-requisite objectives need to be taught, or which objectives students have already mastered. Read more about how to adjust your plan based on assessment data.
  • Your district’sresources – such as curriculum maps, pacing guides, etc.School districts often re-publish the state standards with greater specificity (aligning them with the district’s resources, for instance), so be sure to ask your colleagues, grade-level chairperson, department head, principal, or district director of instruction if such a curriculum guide exists. If you ask how the standards in your district are “vertically aligned,” you may secure a document that details how different grade levels should address similar learning goals.
  • Outside organizations. Professional organizations (e.g., National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) or the National Science Foundation (NSF)), and for-profit organizations (e.g., CORE Knowledge Foundation) have also developed comprehensive standards and guides for teachers, and they can serve as additional sources of insight as you try to determine what it means for students to meet certain academic goals. For instance, the NCTM’s guide provides advice for the types of math problems that students should be able to solve at different grade levels. No list of state standards is that nuanced and helpful. Mid-continent Research for Education & Learning (McREL) maintains a website ( that also helps explain some of the grade-level distinctions of broad standards. See how McREL segments a vague standard into four tiers of complexity based on grade level.
  • Other districts or states. Because of the increased focus on standards, many districts have devoted significant resources to developing extensive, standards-based curricula, and post their guides online. If your state’s standards baffle you, try comparison-shopping with another state. For example, California’s science guidelines are particularly strong and specific, outlining that eighth graders should know, among other facts and concepts, that “the greater the mass of an object, the more force is needed to achieve the same rate of change in motion.” This clearly provides more guidance than “students will be able to understand force.” See standards from different regions.

Standards for the grade levels above and below your class. Although it is not as important to know these standards thoroughly, familiarity with them will provide the foundation for your grade level standards and illustrate the knowledge continuum of which your standards are a part.

  • Standardized tests. An additional way of figuring out what your students should be able to accomplish is by working backward. By looking at the standards-based district, state or national exams in your grade level or subject area, you can get a sense of the types of questions that students are expected to answer – and in what formats. View a list ofstandardized tests in different regions.
  • Conversations with colleagues, excellent school visits and exemplary student work. Since we seek to provide the highest possible educational opportunity for our students, it is worth taking the time to visit a school widely regarded as excellent and to examine the work that children there complete. Seeing what high-achieving students accomplish may present the clearest, most vivid sense of what you should aim for in your own classroom, and your colleagues at these schools may be willing to share advice or special tools that helped them reach these heights.
  • Textbooks. You may think, “What’s the big deal about knowing what to teach? Isn’t that what the textbook is for?” Yes and no. It is true that an excellent textbook aligns with state standards and not only contains the facts and concepts that your students will need to know but also features activities and problems that push students beyond the basics and into higher-order learning. Yet excellent textbooks are expensive, thus rare in low-income communities, and are often aligned to the state standards of big purchasers like California and Texas, not necessarily yours. Plus, textbooks rarely distinguish between important and less pressing material, nor do they address the multiple levels of student needs in your classroom. They also do not focus on certain experiential standards; language arts textbooks are too busy outlining the parts of speech to explain how pitch, volume and tone affect a speaker’s delivery. If you receive a class set of textbooks, use it as a touchstone to know what to teach – but consider it merely one of the many resources you should access.
  • Any teacher's guides from your scripted program you are required to follow. For example,Every Day Math and Open Court.

Standardized Tests in Your Region

Site / Tests / Grades
Atlanta / ITBS / 3, 5, 8
GKAP / K
CRCT (criterion referenced) / 4, 6, 8
GHSGT (Georgia high school) / 11 – 12
EOCT (End of Course Tests) / 9 – 12
GA Writing Test / 5, 8, 11
Baltimore / SAT-10 / 1 – 2
MarylandSchool Assessment / 3 – 10
MarylandHigh School Assessment Tests / 9 – 12
Bay Area / Test of Academic Proficiency / 9, 10
CAT-6 / 3 – 12
CaliforniaHigh School Exit Exams / 12
STAR Writing Test / 4, 7, 10
Charlotte / NC End of Grade Test / 3 – 8
NC End of Course Test / 9 – 12
Chicago / Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) / 3 – 5, 7, 8
Iowa Test of Basic Skills / 3 – 8
EXPLORE / 9
PLAN / 10, 11
PrairieState Achievement Examination (PSAE) / 11
Connecticut / Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) / 3 – 8
Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) / 10
Denver / Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) / 3 – 10
COACT – Colorado’s ACT / 11
Greater New Orleans / Louisiana Educational Assessment Program / 4, 8, 11
IOWA Test of Basic Skills / 3, 5, 6, 7
IOWA Test of Educational Development / 9
Diagnostic Reading Assessment / K, 1, 2, 3
Greater Philadelphia-Camden / Pennsylvania System of School Assessment – Philadelphia / 3, 5, 8, 11
Terra Nova – Philadelphia / K, 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12
NJ state tests (NJ Ask 3, NJ Ask 4, GEPA, HSPA) – Camden / 3, 4, 8, 11
Hawai‘i / Hawai‘i State Assessment / 3 – 8, 10
Houston / Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) / 3 – 11
Stanford 9 (HISD only) / K – 11
Naglieri Non-Verbal Abilities Test (HISD only) / K – 5
High Frequency Word Exam (HISD only) / 1 – 2
Texas Primary Reading Inventory (HISD only) / K – 2
Tejas LEE (Spanish Language Version of TPRI) (HISD only) / K – 2
Developmental Reading Assessment (Alief ISD only) / K – 6
State Developed Alternative Assessment (SDAA) / 3 – 8 SpEd
Reading Proficiency Test in English (RPTE) / 3 – 12 ESL
Indianapolis / Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus (ISTEP+) – ELA and Math / 3 – 10
ISTEP+ - Science / 5, 7
Jacksonville / Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) / 3 – 11
Stanford Diagnostic Reading and Math Test (SDRT/SDMT) / 3 – 10
Kansas City / Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) – Communication Arts / 3 – 8, 11
MAP – Science / 5, 8, 11
MAP – Math / 3 – 8, 10
SAT-10 / 1 – 2
ACUITY – Communication Arts and Math / 3 – 8
ACUITY – Science / 5, 8
ACT – EXPLORE / 8
ACT – PLAN / 10
ACT – Regular Testing / 8 – 12
Las Vegas / Nevada Criterion Referenced Tests (NCRT) / 3 – 8
Nevada Writing Assessment / 4, 8
Terra Nova / 1 – 8
NevadaHigh School Proficiency Examination / 11
Los Angeles / CAT-6/California Standards Test / 3 – 12
CaliforniaHigh School Exit Exams / 12
Memphis / Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP)
Achievement Test (not all schools require this for K-2) / K – 2, 3 – 8
Secondary TCAP Gateway Exams (required to pass to graduate) / 9 – 12
Secondary TCAP Operational End of Course Exams
(not required to pass to graduate) / 9 – 12
Miami / Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) / 3 – 10
Mississippi Delta / ITBS / K – 9
Arkansas End-of-Course Tests (certain subjects only) / 9 – 12
Assessment and Accountability Program / K – 12
Terra Nova / 5, 8
MississippiHigh School Subject Tests / 10
MississippiState Curriculum Benchmark Test / 2 – 8
New Jersey / NJ state tests (NJ Ask 3, NJ Ask 4, GEPA, HSPA) / 3, 4, 8, 11
Newark Scholastic Proficiency Assessment (SPA) / 5 – 7, 9
New Mexico / New Mexico Standards-Based Assessment / 3 – 9
New MexicoHigh School Competency Exam / 10
New MexicoHigh School Standards Assessment / 11
New York / Early Performance Assessment in Language Arts / 2, 3
English Language Assessment / 4, 8
ELE (Spanish reading test) / Bilingual 3 – 9, 9 – 12
CTB (citywide reading and math) / 3, 5 – 7
Language Assessment Battery – Revised (LAB-R) / Bilingual K – 12
Elementary Science Program Evaluation / 4
NY State Math test / 4, 8
NYS Regents / 9 – 12
Interim Assessments in ELA and Math / 3 – 8
North Carolina / NC End of Grade Test / 3 – 8
NC End of Course Test / 9 – 12
Phoenix / Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) – Math, Reading, and Writing / 3 – 10
Rio GrandeValley / Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) / K – 2
Reading Proficiency Test in English / 3 – 12
Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) / 3 – 11
End of Course Exams / 9 – 12
South Dakota / DakotaState Test for Educational Progress (STEP) / 3 – 11
SAT 10 / 3 – 8, 11
Stanford Writing Assessment / 5, 9
South Louisiana / Iowa / 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9
Louisiana Leap 21 / 4, 8
Louisiana Graduate Exit Exam / 10 – 12
St. Louis / Terra Nova (reading, math, social studies) / 2 – 9
Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) – math / 4, 8, 10
MAP - communication arts / 3, 7, 11
MAP - science / 3, 7, 10
Metro D.C. / District of Columbia Comprehensive Assessment System (DC-CAS) - Reading and Math / 3 – 8, 10
DC-CAS - Composition / 4, 7, 10

Please note that these tests may vary by year and by districts within each region. Check with your regional office for the most up-to-date and accurate information.

top

Grade-level Distinctions for a Standard

Adapted from Mid-continent Research for Education & Learning (McREL)