TEA Principal Curriculum & Instruction Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A principal notices that teachers in the same grade level are using widely different instructional pacing. What is the BEST first step to address this?
- Mandate that all teachers follow a single identical lesson plan
- Facilitate collaborative planning to develop a shared curriculum pacing guide (Correct answer)
- Evaluate and discipline teachers who are behind schedule
- Allow teachers complete autonomy since professional judgment varies
Correct answer: Facilitate collaborative planning to develop a shared curriculum pacing guide
Collaborative planning to create a shared pacing guide ensures curricular coherence while respecting teacher input.
Question 2: Which Texas framework most directly guides a campus principal in evaluating the quality of instructional delivery?
- Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
- Texas Principal Evaluation and Support System (T-PESS)
- Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS) (Correct answer)
- Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR)
Correct answer: Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS)
T-TESS is the state framework that guides principals in observing and evaluating instructional quality at the classroom level.
Question 3: A campus has a large population of English Language Learners consistently underperforming in content-area reading. Which instructional strategy should the principal prioritize?
- Separating ELL students into remedial-only classes
- Integrating sheltered instruction techniques across all content areas (Correct answer)
- Focusing solely on English fluency before content instruction
- Reducing the number of content courses ELL students take
Correct answer: Integrating sheltered instruction techniques across all content areas
Sheltered instruction techniques make grade-level content accessible to ELL students while building language skills simultaneously.
Question 4: When analyzing STAAR disaggregated data, a principal finds that special education students are significantly below proficiency in math. What is the most appropriate next step?
- Waive STAAR requirements for all special education students
- Convene a data team to identify root causes and align IEP supports with campus math instruction (Correct answer)
- Assign special education students to a separate math curriculum
- Focus improvement efforts only on students near the passing standard
Correct answer: Convene a data team to identify root causes and align IEP supports with campus math instruction
Convening a data team to align IEP supports with campus instruction addresses root causes and ensures legally required individualization.
Question 5: A principal wants to ensure the written, taught, and tested curricula are aligned. Which action BEST accomplishes this?
- Purchasing the most popular commercial curriculum program
- Conducting curriculum audits that compare lesson plans, instructional materials, and assessments to TEKS (Correct answer)
- Requiring teachers to post TEKS numbers on the board each day
- Administering monthly practice STAAR tests without reviewing results
Correct answer: Conducting curriculum audits that compare lesson plans, instructional materials, and assessments to TEKS
A curriculum audit systematically compares all three curricula to the TEKS, revealing gaps between what is planned, taught, and assessed.
Question 6: Which type of professional development has the greatest impact on sustained changes in teacher instructional practice?
- One-time off-campus workshops with outside speakers
- Job-embedded coaching and collaborative inquiry cycles tied to student data (Correct answer)
- Annual all-day professional development days at the start of the year
- Online courses completed independently without campus follow-up
Correct answer: Job-embedded coaching and collaborative inquiry cycles tied to student data
Job-embedded PD with coaching and data cycles is consistently shown to produce lasting instructional change because it is contextual and continuous.
Question 7: A principal is reviewing teacher lesson plans and notices that most plans reflect lower-order thinking tasks only. What should the principal do?
- Approve the plans since compliance with TEKS is all that is required
- Provide professional development on Bloom's Taxonomy and require revision of plans to include higher-order tasks (Correct answer)
- Require teachers to add the words 'analyze' and 'evaluate' to their objectives without changing tasks
- Reduce planning requirements to give teachers more instructional time
Correct answer: Provide professional development on Bloom's Taxonomy and require revision of plans to include higher-order tasks
Professional development on Bloom's Taxonomy followed by plan revision builds teachers' capacity to design cognitively demanding instruction.
TEA Principal Curriculum & Instruction Management 2
A principal notices that teachers in the same grade level are using widely different instructional pacing.
What is the BEST first step to address this?