The Surveys of Enacted Curriculum (SEC) Collaborative project is based on the premise that the alignment of curriculum and instruction to state content standards and assessments provides a foundation for decisions by educators toward raising student achievement. The SEC Collaborative and the role of CCSSO in managing the project is driven by the goal that such alignment will not happen without new, valid tools. The SEC provides a unique service in addressing this goal while offering important professional development training of SEC tools.
The SEC online web-based survey tool, which is operated through partnership with Wisconsin Center for Education Research, provides educators with valid, comparable measures of curriculum taught in classrooms as well as supporting data addressing pedagogy, classroom and school context, and teacher preparation and professional development. The alignment of curriculum and instruction to standards and assessments provides a foundation for decisions by educators toward raising student achievement. Through this innovative web forum, SEC facilitates collaboration among state leaders on how to use and apply SEC alignment tools that improve instruction and raise student achievement. State education agencies can share important leadership on the use of data to guide education decisions at all levels.
The SEC has grown from a research project in 1990 to a fully operational collaborative providing data and alignment services to over 30 states—in four subject areas: English language arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies. A new SEC survey also addresses curriculum and instruction for English language learners. In the past year, the SEC data collection and reporting system involved over 10,000 teachers and hundreds of schools across the states. The SEC Collaborative continues to provide Collaborative member agencies and educators with critical data for supporting education initiatives and for measuring the impact of initiatives. Professional development and training with use of SEC data now focuses on linking the analysis and use of instructional data to school improvement plans and initiatives.
SEC Collaborative Membership Request Form
States are using the Surveys and resulting data in conjunction with the following programs:
- Alignment of instruction to state content standards
- Alignment of state content standards to state assessments
- NCLB Schools In Improvement
- Math Science Partnerships grant evaluation
- Longitudinal study of the relationship between aligned instruction and gains in student achievement
- Reading First formative evaluation
- State indicators of differences in instruction
Each state is receiving assistance in project design, survey administration, and leadership of workshop sessions on using SEC data to meet their specific objectives. Meetings of the SEC collaborative focus on sharing effective strategies for design of data reporting and applying data for multiple uses. The Surveys are now available online and technical assistance is provided through the partner organizations and expert consultants.
State Member Contact List
Tools and Services Provided
Cost of Tools and Services
Professional Development Team
CCSSO Project Staff
Rolf Blank, Director, SEC Collaborative
Carlise Smith, , SEC Information Contact, 202-336-7066
