What is BT?

Beyond Textbooks is a process, a framework, and a philosophy of teaching and learning. It is made of of three primary phases:

  • Plan
  • Teach
  • Share.

Plan

The Beyond Textbooks Framework delivers several powerful planning tools to your teachers:

Essential (”Power”) Standards
:
While all of the Arizona State Standards are important, the Beyond Textbooks Framework identifies a set of “essential” standards. These standards represent a subset of standards that make up the critical core of learning at each grade level and have been selected for the following criterion:

  • Endurance: Will this provide students with knowledge and skills that will be valued beyond a single test date?
  • Leverage: Will this provide knowledge and skills that will be of value in multiple disciplines?
  • Readiness: Will this provide students with essential knowledge and skills that are necessary for success in the next grade?For each of the essential standards there is a corresponding unwrapped standard document. Please click here to view an examples

Pacing Calendars:
 The best way to insure that students will do well on the AIMS test is give them an opportunity to master all of the “essential” standards before they take the AIMS. Adhering to a district wide pacing calendar is a critical component of the Beyond Textbooks Framework. Using a district wide pacing calendar provides the following benefits:

  • Makes It Easier on Students: Students can move between classrooms or schools and have covered the same content
  • Makes It Easier on Teachers: Easier to plan together, share data, and share resources
  • Gets Students Prepared for AIMS: All the “Essential Standards” are scheduled before AIMS

Beyond Textbooks will create calendars based upon the Vail School District’s current curriculum calendars. Partner district are also able to customize their calendars.

Formative Assessments:
 Common formative assessments have been created by teachers for math and reading essential standards. These formative assessments give teachers a tool to check in with students periodically and look for mastery. Additionally, they establish a consistent measure of rigor across the district.

Teacher Contributions:
 Each essential standard page contains an area for teachers to share things they have found useful in the classroom. Any partner teacher has the ability to submit his/her ideas to this pool of resources. Each item is reviewed for copyright, congruency to the objective, and correct level of rigor by a Vail Student Achievement Teacher. Teacher contributions are broken down into the following categories:

  • Lesson Plans: Lesson Plans contain the lesson plan and many supporting materials, such as graphic organizers, tests, and presentations.
  • Supplemental Resources: Supplemental Materials include individual web links, PowerPoint presentations, teacher suggestions, and other teaching aids.
  • Accommodations and Interventions: Accommodations and Interventions is a section for ELL, Special Education, and Gifted Education resources or ideas.
  • Forums: Forums can be used by teachers to ask questions, make suggestions, or ask for help.

The resources found in Beyond Textbooks have all been successfully used by teachers in their classrooms to produce positive student outcomes.

Teach

The Beyond Textbooks Framework is more than a technology tool. It is the result of an instructional program developed and fine-tuned over the course of many years. Partner school districts have the opportunity to learn and master the strategies that have made Vail an “EXCELLING” school district for the past 3 years. In particular, the following instructional frameworks are critical to success with the Beyond Textbooks Framework:

Essential Elements of Instruction:
A framework based upon the Madeline Hunter model for effective instruction and skills that assists teachers in making decisions when they teach.  It also provides a common instructional language for teachers that helps build school and district culture.

Balanced Literacy:
 A framework for organizing literacy instruction that is comprised of these six components: Flexible Ability Reading Groups, Shared Reading, Read Aloud, Read Independently, Spelling & Phonics/Word Work, Writer’s Workshop/6 Traits.

Balanced Math:
 A framework for organizing math instruction that is comprised of these five components: Math Review, Conceptual Lesson, Problem of the Week, Math Fact Fluency, and Coaching.

Mastery Learning and Assessment
:
A framework for implementing a mastery learning model, instead of just covering the material. The framework shows how to use formative, benchmark, and AIMS data to drive day to day classroom instruction.

Share

Beyond Textbooks is about sharing: sharing curriculum, instructional strategies, assessment tools, etc…

Beyond Textbooks allows teachers to share and collaborate in the following ways:

Teacher Contributions:
It is a time honored teaching tradition to beg, borrow, and steal ideas from one another. The wiki portion of Beyond Textbooks expands your peer group to include tens, if not hundreds, of other teachers focused on the same standards as you.

Forums:
Each wiki page contains a forum board specific to that objective. If you have a question or some advice, then you can post it here.

Teacher Profile:
Want to know who added that great PowerPoint or idea? Check out his/her teacher profile to get a name, email, and possibly a phone number. This allows you to connect with other teachers outside of the wiki system.

Professional sharing is critical to producing creative and effective instruction. Beyond Textbooks takes sharing to a whole new level.