DECISIONPOINT EDUCATIONDistrict alignmentDISTRICT VERTICAL ALIGNMENT FRAMEWORK
DISTRICT / ORGANIZATION
DecisionPoint Local Schools
SCOPE
K–12 Social Studies — Ohio
Standards source: Current state-adopted standards
DISTRICT PLANNING AUDIT
• Standards version and adoption year confirmed
• Every required course and pathway represented
• Entry expectations defined at each transition
• Exit expectations defined at each transition
• Skill demand—not only content topics—mapped
• Vocabulary recognition and independent use mapped
• Common evidence or anchor work identified
• Advanced, multilingual, and disability access considered
• Assessment windows and reporting constraints included
DISTRICT INPUTS
Standards and priorities: State standards, district priority standards, and locally adopted graduation competencies
Current curriculum and courses: List current courses, adopted programs, required units, and places where local teachers have flexibility.
Assessment expectations: District common assessments, state testing expectations, performance tasks, and capstone requirements.
District nonnegotiables: Students explain their reasoning, use subject-specific evidence, and encounter consistent academic vocabulary across grade levels.
PRIORITY SKILL STRANDS
• Chronological and causal reasoning
• Source analysis and corroboration
• Contextualization
• Claim, evidence, and reasoning
VOCABULARY PROGRESSION STRANDS
• Disciplinary thinking terms
• Government and civics language
• Economic concepts
AGREED PROGRESSION MOVES
• Introduce and model
• Practice with scaffolds
• Apply across varied contexts
• Analyze and justify choices
• Transfer independently
GRADE-BAND PROGRESSION
K–2 FOUNDATIONS
• Skill demand: Build shared foundations through explicit modeling and supported practice.
• Evidence: Define a common performance or work sample that shows the expected level of reasoning.
• Vocabulary: Identify terms students should recognize, use with support, and use independently before advancing.
3–5 DEVELOPMENT
• Skill demand: Increase complexity, independence, and transfer while intentionally spiraling prior learning.
• Evidence: Define a common performance or work sample that shows the expected level of reasoning.
• Vocabulary: Identify terms students should recognize, use with support, and use independently before advancing.
6–8 APPLICATION
• Skill demand: Increase complexity, independence, and transfer while intentionally spiraling prior learning.
• Evidence: Define a common performance or work sample that shows the expected level of reasoning.
• Vocabulary: Identify terms students should recognize, use with support, and use independently before advancing.
9–10 ANALYSIS
• Skill demand: Increase complexity, independence, and transfer while intentionally spiraling prior learning.
• Evidence: Define a common performance or work sample that shows the expected level of reasoning.
• Vocabulary: Identify terms students should recognize, use with support, and use independently before advancing.
11–12 INDEPENDENCE
• Skill demand: Expect independent selection, transfer, justification, and reflection.
• Evidence: Define a common performance or work sample that shows the expected level of reasoning.
• Vocabulary: Identify terms students should recognize, use with support, and use independently before advancing.
CROSS-GRADE DECISION POINTS
1. Where is a skill first explicitly taught, and where is it only reviewed?
2. What changes in text, task, content, representation, or independence at each band?
3. Which vocabulary must move from recognition to accurate independent use?
4. What common student evidence will make expectations visible across grade levels?
5. Where are there gaps, unnecessary repetition, or jumps in demand?
6. Which local course or resource decisions need district-level resolution?
ALIGNMENT MEETING OUTPUTS
• One shared progression statement per priority skill strand
• One vocabulary expectation by grade band
• One anchor task or work sample at each transition point
• Named curriculum gaps, overlaps, and ownership
• A review date after teachers collect actual student evidence
QUALITY CHECK
• Progression describes increasing cognitive demand—not merely different topics.
• Vocabulary is taught in context and used in student reasoning.
• District expectations leave room for teacher judgment and student need.
• The framework is specific enough to guide planning and flexible enough to improve from evidence.
