What is Vertical alignment?
Vertical alignment is the organization of curriculum between grades in school. This allows students to seamlessly transition between them. Teachers may have different teaching styles and expectations.
Students who aren’t vertically aligned in schools often struggle to get through the first year because of all the changes between courses. Teachers can feel frustrated when their students aren’t prepared for the course they want them to take.
Vertical alignment is important as it eliminates students having to spend too much time “catching up” or reviewing concepts before they can move on to the next course. Vertical alignment is a way for students to seamlessly switch from one course to another.
Vertical alignment can easily be achieved by giving teachers time for discussions with teachers at all grade levels. This allows them to use the same language and has stepwise expectations for students. It is not easy and can require compromise. However it will create a seamless student experience from kindergarten to graduation.
Middle school science teachers might feel that physics/chemistry are too complex for their students. Instead, they may want to teach biology and leave chemistry/physics to high school. High school students tend to spend more time in chemistry and physics, but the high school science teacher might expect students to understand basic concepts before they move on to high school chemistry or physics.
Teachers in vertically aligned schools should agree on the amount of physics and Chemistry that should be taught in middle-school in order to help students achieve high standards. Both sides will need to compromise. Both sides will have to agree to teach basic physics and chemistry at the beginning of each year. The middle school teacher will likely need to accept this.
Vertical alignment discussions can help students and teachers create an educational experience that is mindful and doesn’t involve unexpected detours or big potholes. Teachers can reach an agreement with department heads and thoughtful listening, even though these conversations can get heated because of different teacher priorities.
New research on the importance of vertical alignment
A study into memory formation has revealed that the previous experience is crucial for understanding new information. The information that is new is encoded and processed according to previous knowledge.
This study examined several neural networks known to be crucial for learning. One network was the connection between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which are involved in logical thinking. Another important network was found throughout the experiment: the connections between PFC and the hippocampus. This brain region is important for transferring short-term memories into longer-term memories.
Multiple electrophysiological recordings were made using electrodes implanted into rats by the researchers. The electrodes enabled the researchers to monitor these network connections in detail and to avoid any “noise”, but also to understand the temporal relationships between them to determine which networks fired first and when activity stopped. Researchers were also able to observe the activity rate in each region. This helped them to understand how the different firing rates and oscillations affected learning.
The results showed that Amygdala’s PFC networks were the ones that synchronized the rats during behavioral conditioning, while the Hippocampus PFC networks responded by increasing their speed and becoming synchronized in sleep.
The amygdala aids in learning emotions, particularly negative ones. The hippocampus helps to transfer memories from short-term memory to long-term memory.
Although the Hippocampus and PFC networks were activated immediately after the stimulus, they did not match each other. They started to match later during sleep.
These results support previous research. This explains why people may react emotionally to newly acquired information. Information is first processed emotionally to avoid potential dangers. Later on, it is combined in the brain with previous experiences to form new understandings.
The researchers found that new experiences are retained when they are linked to existing activity patterns. A memory is created when these patterns connect across brain regions.
Why is vertical alignment important?
The brain reacts to new information in a way that is clear from this research. Initial processing of new information is emotional. Only later can it be connected to the hippocamp for previous experiences. This shows that teachers should make sure to connect new material with prior experiences.
Students may find it difficult to absorb all the information at once. This is not all. The year begins with many new experiences, and stresses. Students begin the school year by taking new classes in unfamiliar settings.
Humans are naturally resistant to change and newness. The stability of the environment they are used to is challenged by new things. The consequences of a change can be unknown and people will feel more uncomfortable when they adapt to new situations. This discomfort can negatively impact learning, especially when teachers are trying hard to outline the basic principles of their course for students.
Students can have difficulty connecting to past experiences. This could lead to a lot less learning in the beginning of the school year. This can be alleviated by teachers making connections to previous years’ classes.
Students can easily transition to new courses if they are familiar with the language, style, content, and style. Vertically aligned courses allow students to be more familiar with the material and will make them feel more at ease in difficult transitions.
This will also ensure that teachers don’t get caught unaware by students who feel unprepared for the topics they are focusing on. Students might be more interested in poetry and creative writing than they are now, but may not have been prepared to write clear and concise analyses of nonfiction.
Students learn better when teachers work together every year to achieve the same goals. Although individual passions are important and should be included wherever possible, teachers who spend too much time in one area of content or style and neglect the fundamentals of the next course can cause friction within departments.
How can administrators improve vertical alignment?
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Give time to teachers!
Teachers must spend considerable time planning together in order to review their curriculum and determine how they fit into the framework. It will be necessary for them to discuss the priorities that they consider most important and those that can be adjusted. Teachers will need to have a lengthy discussion to reach a consensus on what they should cover, how much, and how briefly.
This should not stop you from planning your lessons.
Teacher preparation for the next days is difficult when teachers look at the macro curriculum. Administration should instead dedicate PD days to this purpose. Teachers will have equal time, so more people can participate in the discussion and look at data before making a decision.
Teachers can feel frustrated when their prep time for large-scale PD discussions is taken away. They may feel like it is a waste and get angry. This attitude will prevent them from participating in the discussions. They will opt to say as little as they can to make the meeting end faster. These discussions are not optional. However, they should be geared towards teachers who will use the information to make changes in the classroom.
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Change things slowly.
Teachers will need to be patient and adjust to these changes. Many teachers who have been teaching for many years have entire units with detailed lesson plans. It can be frustrating to ask them to abandon their old plans and begin something completely new.
New teachers can often come to school with fresh ideas and new methods. The same goes for new teachers. While it is important to pay attention to all of the ideas and to implement them wherever possible, it’s also important to not discard the best practices. Many tried-and-true teaching strategies have been proven to be successful because hundreds of students have graduated and gone on to greater success in their lives.
Although making yearly changes is a great idea, it can be messy and difficult to organize your life. Some of these changes might work but not all. Lesson plans are rarely as perfect as teachers would like them to be. Sometimes there are unexpected issues or students may need to be taught something differently from other classes.
The ability to make smaller, more mindful changes to one unit rather than redoing them all at once allows for new ideas and to test out different structures. Teachers won’t like either of these extremes. Staff will be happier if they are mindful of their curriculum and have plenty of data to help them make changes next year.
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Be clear about your learning goals.
Schools need a curriculum expert to look at the whole curriculum and make sure each year leads into next. Teachers have often narrower expectations than students and tend to have lower expectations.
This is because teachers feel like their students are behind when they start a new school year. They compare their students last year at the close of the year to their new students at the beginning of the year. They don’t realize that these students have missed a year of their strong teaching.
The ability to assign benchmarks and establish clear curriculum expectations will put teachers at ease. Instead of feeling worse about the students, teachers can see what benchmarks they have at different stages in the course. This will help them make more informed decisions about differentiation based upon data and not feelings.
How can teachers improve vertical alignment?
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Accept change.
Teachers must remember the old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t repair it”. Education isn’t a tool with a single purpose. It is made up of a multitude of moving parts that must deal with changing people. Even at a small scale, it is possible for something to work one day and not the next.
It is crucial to never stop learning in education. Many students abandon school thinking that school is “work,” and often disregard the lessons they have learned.
Students and teachers can keep learning new things by constantly trying new technologies, new units, and even getting rid of outdated content. While some things may not work, refusing changes to what has been used for decades will only cause stagnation.
The world has changed tremendously, but classrooms look almost identical to the 1900s, before the advents of computers, smartphones, and the internet. It is important that classrooms are updated to better assist students in this digital world.
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Research is your best weapon to protect your passions.
It is not acceptable to introduce a new curriculum item just because it appeals to teachers or parents. Clear research should support any changes to the curriculum.
Teachers who wish to add new units or content to their curriculum should present their ideas but be prepared to support them with clear reasoning and research. This will show reluctant colleagues that there is value in the topic and will also help administrators accept the changes.
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Listen and accept compromises.
Both sides will need to compromise. There is no way that everyone can be satisfied with the choices made in school curriculum.
It is important that students learn as they move from one class to the next. Students will not learn as much if their teachers are teaching in the same way one year, and completely different the next.
Terminology alignment is essential. If one English class uses “literary device” to describe the techniques used by the author to affect their audience, that term should be used across all years.
Students who are unfamiliar with the term “craft moves” will have difficulty understanding the meaning of the terms. This will increase the vocabulary students have to know and slow down their learning.
In conclusion
Some teachers might argue that vertical alignment saps teachers’ individual creativity. It forces them to be more efficient in teaching and creates a lot of pressure on students. Even though everything may not be the same year after another, students can see the connection between what they’re learning and their past experiences.
Teachers need to have the patience to arrange their courses in such a manner that each teacher is able to reach their course goals. At the same time, students must be prepared for the future. Teachers can get help from a curriculum expert to see the larger picture and to help them modify their courses so that they are useful guides for students as they continue their education.
