Curriculum Bundle & Curriculum Based Assessment Frequently Asked Questions

Question:  What is new in 2009-10 in the bundles?
Answer:  The order, timing, and specificities of all bundles have been revised so check them carefully before making your plans.  The quality layer of Big Ideas/Essential Understandings and Guiding Questions have also been added to help increase understanding of the material covered in a particular bundle.  The Year-at-a-Glance documents have been added on the webpage to give a big picture of the course and the flow over the year.

Question:  Were all major events taken place during a bundle considered when planning the amount of material in a bundle?
Answer:  All district wide events (testing days, PD days, holidays, etc…) were taken into account when planning the bundles.  A calendar of these events was provided to the writers during the alignment process, and is available on the curriculum webpage.  Just click the calendar icon  from the webpage or from any bundle to see these events.  There may be campus events that were not taken into account so please read all teacher notes in the bundles and plan accordingly. 

Question: What does suggested mean for the dates on the bundles?
Answer: The curriculum writing teams have worked very hard to lay out an appropriate pacing for the material that the state requires we teach over the span of a year through the bundle dates.  Every class is different and it may take you a little longer or a little less time to get through the material than what is allowed by the dates listed on the bundles.  That is why the dates are suggested dates and not set-in-stone dates.  Please keep in mind however; there is a limited number of days in the school year, so if you get behind schedule you will need to make up the days out of an upcoming bundle.  Use your professional judgment and make the best decision for your class!

Question:  Do I have to teach the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)/Student Expectations (SEs) in the order they are listed within each bundle?
Answer:  No, the TEKS/SEs in the bundle must be taught during the three weeks, but they are listed in no particular order within the bundle unless specifically indicated by notes in the bundle.  You may teach the TEKS in a bundle in any order or integrate the TEKS within a bundle as you see fit.

Question: How can I provide professional feedback for bundles and CBAs and make suggestions for improvement?
Answer:  Please use the solution focused feedback form found on the Curriculum web-page.  Your comments are sent directly to the appropriate curriculum coordinator and are considered for on-going revisions.

Question:  Do I have to use the resources listed in the bundles?
Answer:  The resources listed are good examples of what to use to teach the TEKS and are available at each campus, but their use is not mandatory.  Any specific limitations of resources will be listed in the bundles You should use research-based, best practices and if you have other resources that you feel support those practices that are not listed you are welcome to use them.  You may also want to let your coordinator know about any additional resources so they can be considered..

Question:  What is the interaction between the curriculum bundles and the Curriculum Based Assessments (CBAs)? 
Answer:  The CBAs will cover TEKS/SEs that are in the appropriate bundles.  For instance, CBA 1 will cover TEKS/SEs listed in the first three bundles. 

Question:  What information should I receive with each CBA?
Answer: Each CBA has the test document itself (in both Spanish and English where appropriate), teacher notes with specific directions for each test, a key with the SEs listed, a classroom data analysis sheet, and student data analysis sheet for the students to use to examine their performance.

Question:  How are the SEs chosen for the each CBA?
Answer:  The SEs are chosen to be on a CBA if they are what we call "high-yield" SEs—those SEs that greatly influence a students success.  These are SEs that are foundational and cover skills/knowledge needed for success with TEKS in upcoming bundles, or they could be SEs that are heavily tested on high stakes tests. Data on these SEs will tell you as a teacher how well your students are performing with these "high-yield" SEs and can help to identify areas where additional instruction is needed.

Question: Why are there 3-4 questions for every SE on the CBAs?
Answer:  There are many factors that influence a student's response on a question.  Questions are intended to test the content of an SE, but factors such as vocabulary and context can influence a student to answer incorrectly even when they do understand the content.  If there is only one question on the test and a student gets it wrong, there is no way to tell if it was the content that they don't know or the context that confused them.  Having at least three questions covering the same content in different contexts allows us to better analyze the cause of the student getting incorrect answers.