About PCG Education
PCG Education, a division of Public Consulting Group, works with schools, school districts, and state education agencies to build their capacity for instructional and programmatic improvements. PCG Education has provided curriculum development, coaching, professional development, and technical assistance services in states such as New York, Indiana, Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. We work alongside educators and policy makers to ensure effective implementation of both the Common Core State Standards and state-specific standards for college and career readiness.
About the Curriculum
PCG's Paths to College and Career curriculum provides educators with lesson-by-lesson guidance to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for grades 6–12 English Language Arts. The curriculum is designed to flex in response to the realities of each classroom and school. Adaptation is an expectation. The curriculum empowers educators and school leaders to use and adapt the instructional resources to best support their students. It includes options for teachers to adjust pacing and adapt content to address student needs. The curriculum includes these instructional materials:
The curriculum emphasizes the skills and practices that students need in order to achieve college and career readiness:
PCG Education's 6–12 Paths to College and Career curriculum was developed in partnership with the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to provide curriculum to educators in New York state via its EngageNY website.
- module and unit overviews
- daily lesson plans
- module, unit, and lesson assessments
- rubrics
- vocabulary words and definitions
- tools and graphic organizers
- model student responses
- scaffolding recommendations for students with disabilities, English language learners, and accelerated learners
- homework assignments
- supplemental modules of instruction to ensure students’ diverse learning needs are met
The curriculum emphasizes the skills and practices that students need in order to achieve college and career readiness:
- annotating
- reading closely
- writing from sources
- making evidence-based claims
- engaging in collaborative discussions
PCG Education's 6–12 Paths to College and Career curriculum was developed in partnership with the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to provide curriculum to educators in New York state via its EngageNY website.
Aligned to the Standards
The PCG Education 6–12 Paths to College and Career ELA curriculum was based on the following guidance and best practices for the implementing the Common Core State Standards:
The recommendations in these documents underpin the curriculum design in the following areas:
Instructional Shifts: The curriculum brings to life the Common Core instructional shifts with a balance of fiction and nonfiction texts, regular practice with complex texts and academic vocabulary, and writing instruction grounded in evidence from texts.
Complexity and Range of Texts: A wide range of grade-appropriate complex texts, both canonical and contemporary, give students rigorous and diverse literacy experiences.
Sufficient Practice in Reading Complex Texts: Each close reading lesson focuses on a grade-appropriate complex text, with the majority of class time devoted to students reading, interpreting, and grappling with text.
Quality of Questions and Tasks: Questions are designed to support comprehension and build students’ close reading skills, and are sequenced so students can access challenging texts at increasingly complex levels.
Writing from Sources: Students engage frequently in the writing process over the course of each module, crafting multiple informative, argument, narrative, and research-based pieces throughout grades 6–12.
Vocabulary Instruction: As part of their engagement with complex texts, students learn and practice strategies to identify the meaning and analyze the use of complex vocabulary, particularly tier two (academic vocabulary) and tier three (domain-specific) words.
Support for Differentiation: To support all students in meeting the standards, including those with special needs, English language learners, and accelerated learners, lessons are crafted using Universal Design for Learning principles. Differentiated instructional supports are embedded in every lesson, including additional vocabulary instruction and questions, as well as optional student tools.
Assessments: Formative assessments are included in every lesson in the form of lesson assessments. Summative assessments are Mid-Unit, End-of-Unit and culminating Module Performance Assessments. Both formative and summative assessments are strongly aligned to the standards and provide teachers robust opportunities to assess student learning. Assignment-specific rubrics and model student responses are also provided.
Foundational Reading: The curriculum provides instruction and support for vocabulary development, fluency, and understanding and use of syntax.
- the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy
- the Publishers’ Criteria for the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Literacy, Grades 3–12
- Tri-State/ EQuIP Rubric
- PARCC Model Content Frameworks
- the Common Core instructional shifts
The recommendations in these documents underpin the curriculum design in the following areas:
Instructional Shifts: The curriculum brings to life the Common Core instructional shifts with a balance of fiction and nonfiction texts, regular practice with complex texts and academic vocabulary, and writing instruction grounded in evidence from texts.
Complexity and Range of Texts: A wide range of grade-appropriate complex texts, both canonical and contemporary, give students rigorous and diverse literacy experiences.
Sufficient Practice in Reading Complex Texts: Each close reading lesson focuses on a grade-appropriate complex text, with the majority of class time devoted to students reading, interpreting, and grappling with text.
Quality of Questions and Tasks: Questions are designed to support comprehension and build students’ close reading skills, and are sequenced so students can access challenging texts at increasingly complex levels.
Writing from Sources: Students engage frequently in the writing process over the course of each module, crafting multiple informative, argument, narrative, and research-based pieces throughout grades 6–12.
Vocabulary Instruction: As part of their engagement with complex texts, students learn and practice strategies to identify the meaning and analyze the use of complex vocabulary, particularly tier two (academic vocabulary) and tier three (domain-specific) words.
Support for Differentiation: To support all students in meeting the standards, including those with special needs, English language learners, and accelerated learners, lessons are crafted using Universal Design for Learning principles. Differentiated instructional supports are embedded in every lesson, including additional vocabulary instruction and questions, as well as optional student tools.
Assessments: Formative assessments are included in every lesson in the form of lesson assessments. Summative assessments are Mid-Unit, End-of-Unit and culminating Module Performance Assessments. Both formative and summative assessments are strongly aligned to the standards and provide teachers robust opportunities to assess student learning. Assignment-specific rubrics and model student responses are also provided.
Foundational Reading: The curriculum provides instruction and support for vocabulary development, fluency, and understanding and use of syntax.
