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District staff outline Comprehensive Instructional Plan rollout to align pacing and benchmarks
Summary
Donna Abernathy and Tammy Stone presented RCPS’s adoption of the CIP consortium, describing teacher-created benchmarks, Mastery Connect integration, and a pacing roadmap intended to improve consistency across schools and restore regular benchmark assessments.
Donna Abernathy, RCPS instructional leader, and Tammy Stone, curriculum supervisor of science, briefed the board on the Comprehensive Instructional Plan (CIP) the division adopted in April as part of a 76-district consortium.
They said CIP provides teacher-created benchmarks aligned to the Virginia Standards of Learning, pacing guides to ensure common sequencing across schools, and Mastery Connect integration to disaggregate results quickly for instructional decisions. Presenters noted that benchmarks vary by course and grade (roughly 25–35 items and often about 20 minutes) and that the program aims to replace some previous growth assessments.
The presenters described a rollout timeline: administrative introduction in January, teacher and principal planning in March–April, benchmark and pacing guide release in May, teacher training in June/August, and data sharing with parents starting in November. They emphasized teacher involvement in benchmark creation and said the CIP resources are teacher-designed and updated annually.
Board members pressed on teacher autonomy, pacing choices (small-to-large vs. large-to-small sequencing), and resource logistics (for example, microscope availability). Abernathy and Stone said teachers retain pacing flexibility within a semester while following a single benchmark schedule; supply and equipment needs would be coordinated through department heads.
What’s next: Staff will continue teacher training this summer and implement CIP benchmarks during the upcoming school year with planned parent communications and benchmark data sharing.
