1. Ensure that learning outcomes measured by MSPAP are an integral part of the overall instructional program.

2. Include higher-order questions in every lesson, every day, for students at all levels.

3. Make daily use of reading and writing strategy instruction correlated to skills students need to respond successfully to performance type items requiring reading and writing in a variety of content areas.

4. Go “beyond the basal” to include a variety of print materials in students' directed reading instruction.

5. Read aloud from interesting and challenging materials to help students expand their vocabularies and content-based concepts.

6. Provide activity-oriented lessons with opportunities for students to collect, organize, discuss, display, and interpret data.

7. Include prediction/hypothesis-testing activities whenever possible in classroom instruction.

8. Design lessons that include multi-step activities for students who work in both group and individual settings.

9. Plan daily opportunities for students to write (compose). Writing should occur in all content areas.

10. Plan interdisciplinary lessons and units that emphasize application of skills and concepts from two or more content areas.

11. Establish a balance between guided practice and more independent work with careful teacher observation but less intervention.

12. Relate new learning to students' prior knowledge to build understanding.

13. Use the Five E's (Engagement/Exploration/Explanation/Elaboration/Evaluation) for planning integrated science activities that involve other content area.

14. Extend interdisciplinary instructional activities to include the arts and physical education.

15. Apply Dimensions of Learning concepts to the development of units and daily lesson plans.

16. Give students many opportunities to work in cooperative groups to investigate a problem, discuss a topic or issue, gather and record data.

17. Help students to create as well as interpret a variety of charts, graphs, and diagrams.

18. Help students learn to develop and use graphic organizers to organize and display information.

Click here for content-specific strategies for
ensuring student success on MSPAP

This document represents a summary of various state and local materials
related to MSPAP preparation. It was developed by the following individuals:
John L. Brown, M. Antoinette Kellaher, and Louise F. Waynant.

CLICK HERE for some staff development ideas for assisting staff in integrating instructional modifications to prepare students for MSPAP.

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