The development and employment of formative evaluation instruments to enhance students' opportunity to learn

This paper introduces two evaluation instruments used to inform K-12 pedagogical initiatives in mathematics and science sponsored by the El Paso Collaborative for Academic Excellence (EPCAE). These instruments are an Opportunity To Learn (OTL) questionnaire and an observational framework called the School Curriculum Implementation Profile (SCIP). Data gathered locally in the last few years support the utility of these instruments to measure curricula intended to promote opportunity to learn. Differences on these measures are related to student mathematics achievement (grades 4, 6, and 8) and to a reduction in the achievement gap favoring white students over Hispanic students.