Spotlight - Unfinished and Continued Learning Planning for the Recovery of Standards and Content - 2020-21 School Year Action Plan

Sep 12, 2026

Upload by Mali

Spotlight provides guidance for district and school leaders as students return to school in varied learning formats, helping teams address unfinished learning from the prior grade. It explains how to identify gaps between missed, taught-but-not-mastered, and currently aligned standards, and how to translate that analysis into an actionable 2020-21 plan. The document outlines guiding questions and planning ideas for curriculum decisions, instructional pacing, diagnostics, formative checks, and targeted interventions, including RTI support and professional learning needs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Guiding Questions

Standards, Expectations, and Skills: Identifying Areas of Unfinished Learning

Curriculum and Instruction Decisions: Developing an Action Plan

Spotlight: Unfinished and Continued Learning Planning for the Recovery of Standards and Content As students return to school this fall, whether that is in-person, virtual, a combination of both, or intermittently transitioning back and forth between the two, many will have not mastered all of the standards or content from their previous grade level. Teachers, therefore, will be asked to ensure mastery of both current and previous grade-level standards and are likely to do so in new or reconfigured learning environments. The Standards Recovery Planning Template in NIET’s Planning Guide for 2020-21 is intended to support district and school leaders in determining gaps in unfinished learning from the previous year, identifying standards that may not have been taught or that were taught but not mastered, and creating an action plan for how any missed standards or content will be addressed in the 2020-21 school year. The guiding questions and templates below are intended to build on that to support district and school leaders in analyzing current curricular materials or content and identifying how these can be effectively utilized for the 2020-21 school year. Some districts or schools might find this document helpful in identifying focus areas for core instruction across grade levels and subject areas, developing a comprehensive curriculum implementation plan, developing intervention plans for individual student needs as a part of RTI, or identifying professional learning that might be needed by teachers and leaders to meet the needs of students with unfinished learning indifferent learning environments. Guiding Questions The guiding questions on the following pages are intended to support district and school leaders in identifying areas of unfinished learning, developing an action plan, and preparing for different learning environments. The guiding questions assume that district and school leaders have already collected and compiled teacher responses to the Standards Recovery Planning Template and have reviewed social distancing guidance for the 2020-21 school year. In addition, the guiding questions assume that districts and schools have adopted a high-quality curriculum or have a curriculum and supplements that are aligned to college-and career-readiness standards and provide a scope and sequence, questions, text, materials, and resources that move students’ thinking to the highest levels of depth of knowledge. STANDARDS, EXPECTATIONS, AND SKILLS: IDENTIFYING AREAS OF UNFINISHED LEARNING Before creating a plan for how curriculum and instructional decisions may need to be updated to address learning gaps and different learning environment scenarios, it is critical to identify the “what” – the standard(s) and/or content – that will need to be addressed for each grade level and subject area, including unfinished learning from previous grade levels. The Standards Recovery Summary Template is designed to be used in connection with the guiding questions and ideas to consider listed below. | Guiding Questions | Ideas to Consider | | --- | --- | | Using the Standards Recovery Summary Template, identify missed standards and corresponding current standards. Using the missed and corresponding standards, identify mastery expectations and breakdown the skills for standards taught and not mastered in the previous school year as well as standards not taught. Consider:
1. What do we know about the current grade-level standard?
2. What are the pre-requisite skills and understanding students need to demonstrate mastery of the current grade-level standard?
3. How is the current grade-level standard similar to and different from the previous grade-level standard?
4. Will the previous standard stand alone in instruction, or can it be layered in with current grade-level standard? | 1. Develop and create a clear communication plan for how the collaborative work of the standards recovery process will be communicated and sup

FAQs

What does Spotlight help leaders do for the 2020-21 school year?

It supports leaders in determining gaps in unfinished learning from the previous year, identifying standards that were missed or not mastered, and creating an action plan to address them during 2020-21.

How can leaders identify unfinished learning by grade level and subject area?

Leaders use the Standards Recovery Summary Template with guiding questions to match missed standards to corresponding current standards, then define mastery expectations and break down prerequisite skills and skill gaps.

What steps are recommended to develop an action plan for curriculum and instruction decisions?

Leaders use diagnostic or formative data, determine what month/unit/lesson will cover standards, review whether current resources include review of prior expectations, and adjust scope and sequence, pacing, and assessments to address identified breakdowns.

Sep 12, 2026

Upload by Mali