The Instructional Design Process is a multi-step procedure for accomplishing standards-based reform of the curriculum in every subject and to integrate the best practices techniques into the every classroom to deliver and assess instruction. Developed by Drs. Karen Peters and Judith March, Instructional Design has been published by Phi Delta Kappa (1999) and Corwin Press ( 1999 ) and has been updated in the book Designing Instruction: Making "Best Practices" Work In Standards-Based Classrooms, published by Corwin in 2008. The Process is firmly grounded in the research findings on standards-based reform, the best practices for classroom instruction, and the teacher-effects research. A complete, annotated bibliography is available on request.

Each step in the process is completed by teams of teachers. Depending on the size of the district, these working committees may represent a larger group of teachers, or they may involve every teacher. Either way, all teachers are expected to utilize the materials once they are developed. But Instructional Design is not a one-size-fits-all cookbook approach; each district develops its own set of core materials that its teachers can easily adapt to his or her own unique teaching style.

The Steps that make up the Instructional Design Process

A comprehensive process for ensuring that the instructional program prepares students for the 21st century. This includes:

• Aligning Curriculum with State Academic Content Standards, organizing and prioritizing them into Power Indicators and articulating the developmental flow among grade levels
• Developing Curriculum Maps to organize the Indicators across the school year, placing them in the most appropriate sequence, and anticipating those that need to be repeated
• Best Practices Unit Planning: Integrating "best practice" techniques into Unit Plans that guide the delivery of daily classroom instruction, including techniques for differentiation
• Developing standards-based formative assessments to continuously monitor student progress and to provide immediate and focused intervention as needed

Despite several years of effort, most school districts are still grappling with the challenges of Adequate Yearly Progress for sub-groups of students and closing achievement gaps between children who are more and less privileged.