A supplemental resource is designed to complement and support comprehensive materials. Publishers design supplemental resources for different purposes, including to:
- help students learn the content and practice the skills contained in all of the standards for a particular grade and subject;
- offer some of the same resources as comprehensive materials to support students in learning a specific subset of standards (e.g., writing standards, Personal Financial Literacy, etc…);
- target specific standards with which students typically struggle;
- build skills addressed across grade level standards; or
- support specific student learning needs, such as the needs of English language learners, students with disabilities, or advanced learners.
Supplemental materials vary in the percentage of standards they intend to address. Some intend to align to all grade-level standards, but most do not. A supplemental resource that is aligned to only 50% of the grade-level standards may be the best material to select if it is aligned to the standards you need it to teach. Similarly, a resource that intends to build vocabulary may do so effectively even though it is aligned to fewer than 10% of the grade level standards because it does not teach the other content and skills the standards require. Thus, such a product may be a great addition to your district’s instructional arsenal despite its low alignment percentage. [Read more…]