Evidence-based Content Knowledge

Students in Massachusetts must meet rigorous academic standards, which are outlined in the —Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, and these frameworks for PK–12 students anchor the expectations of content knowledge for educators. While they serve as an anchor, the intent and expectation are not that educators should simply know the content included in the Frameworks. Rather, educators must move beyond a basic or functional knowledge of the Frameworks to a level of fluency or expertise with the academic standards such that they can teach and support students in mastering the content as articulated in the Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK) Guidelines. The figure below shows a steady progression, not in the amount of information one knows about, but in the depth and ability to use that information for a specific purpose. The boxes below the continuum illustrate the practical applications of the difference in depth and fluency of content knowledge as it relates to the Massachusetts licensure system and suite of required assessments used to determine varying levels of content knowledge. The depth at which the knowledge and application of the SMKs must be demonstrated is dependent on the stage of development for an individual educator (i.e. Basic, Functional, Fluent, or Expert) and/or licensure (Provisional, Initial, or Temporary).

An illustration of the continuum of required content knowledge for educators including: basic, functional, fluent, and expert as described in text above

The Early Literacy Program Approval Criteria are designed to move teacher candidates from basic literacy content knowledge, as represented in Massachusetts' ELA Curriculum Frameworks, through functional to fluent content knowledge by promoting rich and varied opportunities for deeper learning of effective literacy instruction. This will ensure that candidates have a solid foundation for literacy instruction that is culturally and linguistically sustaining, informed by research, data-driven, and interactive and engaging for young learners in each of the components of literacy, including:

Language Comprehension
Foundational Skills
Reading Comprehension
Writing

Resources on this page are intended to support development of content knowledge for faculty, personnel, supervising practitioners, and teacher candidates.

Note: resources marked with an asterisk (*) are cross-posted to other subsites of the Early Literacy in Educator Preparation Resource Hub.

Sample Assignment: Choosing Texts to Support Oral Language Development in PreK–K Classrooms

Assessment and Instruction Decision Tree for Students Experiencing Reading Difficulties

Sample Early Literacy Observation Form Focused on Foundational Skills *

Sample Early Literacy Observation Form Focused on Engaging with Complex Text *

Expository Writing: Rubric for a Single Paragraph

Windows & Mirrors Picture Book Review and Analysis (Sample Assignment)

An Integrated Early Literacy and Visual Arts Unit (Sample Assignment)

The Benefits of Multilingualism and Bidialectalism (Sample Assignment)

Sample Gateway Assessment in Literacy Knowledge

Early Literacy Look Fors and Instructional Examples — PK–3 *

Early Literacy Look Fors and Instructional Examples — Grades 4–6 *