In a study of 15 Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states, researchers at SREB identified the degree to which the Oklahoma State Department of Education provided leadership and support for the statewide use of high-quality instructional materials that aligned to the state’s K-12 college- and career-readiness standards in English language arts (ELA) and math.

SREB developed a list of actions that demonstrate state leadership and support in each of the three areas listed below. These actions, or “look-fors,” guided data collection and the analysis of state efforts. Read about the look-fors in the full report, located to the right. State efforts in each area fell into one of three levels of implementation: minimal, essential or strong. In some cases, SREB researchers also designated a state action as notable. Below is a detailed description of this state’s efforts.

Table of Contents

Highlights	Area 1	Area 2	Area 3	Moving Forward

Highlights from Oklahoma

• Efforts in 2016 to begin developing and providing instructional materials and professional learning for educators to learn about, design and deliver instruction on the new Oklahoma Academic Standards, which educators began implementing in 2016-17.
• Notable guidance on differentiating instruction for diverse learners. For example, the Oklahoma State Department of Education provided educators with the Oklahoma Indian Education Resource, the Oklahoma Co-Teaching Framework, and the Comprehensive Academic Resource Training and Toolkit for English learners.

Area 1: Establishing Clear Conventions

Did the department establish clear criteria and a clear process for identifying high-quality instructional materials aligned to the state’s college- and career-readiness standards?

Oklahoma provided minimal leadership and support in this area.

In 2016, the state textbook committee did not use alignment criteria beyond the Oklahoma Academic Standards to guide the evaluation of textbook alignment to the standards. In 2016, the department began drafting curriculum frameworks, though not review criteria, to inform the development of instructional materials aligned to the new Oklahoma Academic Standards.

Table 1: State Criteria and Processes for Reviewing Textbooks and Online, On-Demand Instructional Materials

State authority and role in developing and selecting instructional materials	Criteria the state used to develop and select materials	Process the state used to develop and select materials
Textbooks
In accordance with state law: The Oklahoma State Textbook Committee was required to adopt recommended textbooks. Districts were not required to select items from the state-adopted list. Due to state budget constraints and the adoption of the new Oklahoma Academic Standards, the State Legislature passed bills giving districts greater flexibility to purchase textbooks outside of regular adoption cycles.	The Oklahoma State Textbook Committee used the Oklahoma Academic Standards as a reference to assess the quality and alignment of textbooks. Unlike previous adoption cycles that assessed alignment to previous state standards, the department had not developed a rubric (a document that outlines expectations, guidelines and procedures) to support the committee’s work in 2014-15 and 2015-16.	The Oklahoma State Textbook Committee, made up of parents, teachers and community members appointed by the governor, was responsible for reviewing and adopting items. A department representative was charged with supporting the committee. Items were adopted every six years. ELA textbooks were adopted in 2016 upon the adoption of the new ELA state standards. Since no state funds were allocated for math textbooks in 2016, their adoption was delayed for one year until 2017-18.
Online, On-Demand Instructional Materials
The department did not offer a repository of instructional materials such as model lesson or unit plans, which educators could use to inform their planning for the Priority Academic Student Skills in 2014-15 and 2015-16 or the Oklahoma Academic Standards in 2016-17.	The department did not use formal review criteria to develop instructional materials for the Priority Academic Student Skills in 2014-15 and 2015-16. In 2016, the department began drafting curriculum frameworks, though not review criteria, to inform the development of instructional materials aligned to the Oklahoma Academic Standards.	The department did not use a formal process for developing instructional materials for the Priority Academic Student Skills in 2014-15 and 2015-16. In summer 2016, the department collaborated with Oklahoma teachers to draft the curriculum frameworks and other materials for the Oklahoma Academic Standards.

Area 2: Supporting Local Efforts

Did the department provide guidance, instructional materials, professional learning and technical assistance to build local knowledge and skills, and support educator use of aligned materials?

Oklahoma provided minimal leadership and support in this area.

The department provided a few types of guidance and instructional materials, with notable guidance on differentiating instruction for diverse learners. The department offered a few types of professional learning for educators. 

Guidance

Guidance could include information about the standards and aligned teaching strategies, rubrics for gauging alignment of instructional materials, templates for designing aligned instruction, lists of adopted textbooks and online professional learning resources. Oklahoma provided the following guidance documents.

• A few guidance materials for the Priority Academic Student Skills in 2014-15 and 2015-16
• Toolkits for ELA and Math beginning in 2015-16, with information about the new Oklahoma Academic Standards and associated assessments, draft curriculum frameworks, videos of exemplary classroom instruction, professional learning modules and content area podcasts
• Extensive guidance for differentiating instruction for diverse learners, including Oklahoma Indian Education Resource materials; archived training materials and guidance on Universal Design for Learning and designing instruction for gifted students and English learners; the Oklahoma Co-Teaching Framework, reflection tools and implementation rubric for students with disabilities; and the Comprehensive Academic Resource and Training Toolkit for English learners

Instructional Materials

Instructional materials could include a variety of tools and resources that educators use to plan and deliver instruction, such as model lesson and unit plans, sample formative assessments, textbooks, student workbooks and manipulatives, recommended texts and videos, and multimedia learning tools. Oklahoma provided the following types of instructional materials.

• The department did not offer instructional materials to support instruction on the Priority Academic Student Skills in 2014-15 and 2015-16. The department collaborated with Oklahoma teachers in summer 2016 to develop curriculum frameworks for the Oklahoma Academic Standards.

Professional Learning and Technical Assistance

• Introductory webinars in spring and summer of 2016 for educators to learn about the new Oklahoma Academic Standards and aligning instructional materials
• One-day, summer EngageOK professional development conferences offered statewide in 2014 and 2015 for teachers and school and district leaders. In 2016, the department began offering regional conferences to better serve local needs.
• Training for educators on Literacy Design Collaborative and Mathematics Design Collaborative practices and tools, provided in 2016 in collaboration with SREB

Area 3: Using Data to Continuously Improve State Efforts

Did the department regularly gather and use multiple types of data in order to continuously improve its leadership and support for the statewide alignment of instructional materials to college- and career-readiness standards?

Oklahoma provided essential leadership and support in this area.

The department gathered three of the five types of data that SREB deemed key for state leadership. Leaders and staff from across the agency, and educators, participated in analysis and discussion of the data. The department used the data in two ways to inform its work.

Table 2: Data the Department Gathered to Inform its Efforts 

Key types of data	Data sources
Educator use of state guidance and instructional materials, and educator participation in the professional learning and technical assistance the department offered	Feedback from educators participating in the department’s professional learning events
Educator perceptions of the quality of the state’s offerings	Feedback from educators participating in the department’s professional learning events
Educator emerging needs	Spring 2016 statewide educator professional development survey Feedback from various educator and student advisory groups Feedback from educators participating in the department’s professional learning events
Impact of state offerings on measurable teacher or student outcomes	None reported
Local curriculum alignment practices	None reported

The department used this data to improve two of its supports for local instructional materials alignment:

• Guidance and instructional materials
• Professional learning and technical assistance services

The department established the following routines to analyze data, discuss findings and determine actions to address identified needs:

• Leaders from throughout the department held quarterly strategic planning sessions with the Education Delivery Institute.
• Executive directors from throughout the department met monthly.
• The department’s academic affairs team, which included leaders and staff in the areas of ELA, math, instructional technology and quality schools, met weekly.
• The state superintendent met regularly with more than 20 educator and student advisory groups.

Moving Forward

As Oklahoma strives to continuously improve, state leaders may wish to consider the following recommendations.    

• Enhance efforts to establish clear, rigorous and consistent conventions for identifying high-quality instructional materials aligned to state standards. Develop rubrics for the review of textbooks and online instructional materials, aligning the criteria in the rubrics to each other. Verify that the rubrics fully reflect the content and rigor of the state’s standards—for example, by submitting them to trusted, third-party experts for review, or basing them on nationally recognized tools. Use the rubrics, in collaboration with educators, to develop and select instructional materials at least annually, to provide educators with up-to-date materials that they can access on-demand to meet their needs. Clear, consistent, rigorous review criteria and processes will assist educators in learning about, designing and delivering instruction on the Oklahoma Academic Standards. See strong state efforts to establish clear, consistent and rigorous conventions described in the Florida, Louisiana, Maryland and North Carolina profiles.
• Continue to develop support for local efforts to design and deliver high quality instruction on the Oklahoma Academic Standards.
  • See efforts to provide extensive online, on-demand guidance and instructional materials noted in the Florida, Louisiana, Maryland and North Carolina profiles.
  • See professional learning and technical assistance initiatives that were intensive, integrated and sustained, and that reached large numbers of districts, schools or educators described in the Alabama, Louisiana and Kentucky profiles. 
• Enhance the department’s use of data for continuous improvement. For example, gather information on local curriculum alignment practices, in order to design state services and tools that meet statewide needs and that target schools and districts that need the support. Examine how the use of state materials and services impacts educator practice and student learning. See descriptions of strong state use of data in the Arkansas, Delaware, Tennessee and West Virginia profiles.