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CURRICULUM

 

Introduction - Curriculum, instruction, and assessment function in synergy to attain optimal student learning.  Curriculum is the what students must know and be able to do.  Instruction is the teaching of essential content and skills.  Assessment is the how we know students know it and are able to do it.  If students have not mastered the curriculum, students will receive intervention activities based on student needs.  This may include grouping students with similar learning gaps and re-teaching the curriculum.  Significant learning gaps may require intensive support.  If students have mastered the curriculum, students will receive enrichment activities or move on to new learning.

The district curriculum plan is to continue to evaluate and refine district curriculum in alignment with the NH Curriculum Framework's grade level and grade span expectations (GLE/GSE), Common Core State Standards, and 21st Century Skills Initiatives.  This work will include:

1. Curriculum alignment and instructional unit development to encompass the standards. 
2. Integration of science, social studies, and technology education into literacy instruction. 
3. Integration of 21st century skills throughout the curriculum.  21st Century skills include information, media, and technology; learning and innovation; and life and career.
4. Integration of 21st century themes throughout the curriculum.  21st Century themes include global awareness; financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy; civic literacy; health literacy; and environmental literacy.

Please reference the Epping School District Reform Model " 21st Century Student Outcomes for College, Career, and Life Ready Students" for more information on the curriculum goals.  Please click here to access this model.

Programs - The Epping School District offers a comprehensive curriculum in the following program areas as required by the NH School Approval Standards and Epping School Board Policy.

• K-12 English language arts
• K-12 Mathematics
• K-12 Science
• K-12 Social Studies
• K-12 Information and Media
• K-12 Technology Education
• K-12 Physical Education
• K-12 Health Education
• K-12 Vocal and Instrumental Music
• K-12 Visual Arts
• K-12 Guidance, Counseling and Career Education
• 6-12 Drama/Theatre
• 6-12 Technical Education
• 6-12 Family Consumer Science
• 8-12 World Languages
• 9-12 Business Education

The Epping School District also offers a special education preschool program which uses The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool.

Committee – The district curriculum process begins with the selection of a district curriculum committee composed of elementary, middle, and high school teachers.  A district administrator facilitates the committee's work.   

Consultants – The district may employ outside consultants for the design and implementation of program area curriculum, assessment, and instruction. 

Standards - The district curriculum committee starts the process by reviewing the state and national standards for their program area. The NH Curriculum Frameworks are organized by grade level expectations and grade level spans and cover most of the curriculum areas noted above.  The Common Core State Standards have been adopted for English language arts and mathematics. The English language arts curriculum also includes history/social studies and science/technical content areas.

Process – The district curriculum committee focuses on developing program guidelines for grades K-12 and grade/course level guidelines in alignment with state and national standards.  Using the grade/course level guidelines classroom teachers develop unit plans/trajectories, lesson plans, and assessments to answer the following questions.

• Curriculum - What is it we expect students to learn (know, understand, and be able to do)?
• Assessment - How will we know when students have learned it?
• Instruction - How do we teach so all students learn?  How will we respond when students have already learned it?  How will we respond when students don't learn?

Policy - District curriculum is governed by School Board Policy IGA Curriculum Development and IGD Curriculum Adoption.

 

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK

The Curriculum Framework provides guidelines per School Board Policy IGA for the development of district curriculum in all program areas.  Through the alignment of standards PK-12 the Curriculum Framework will require consistency within and across classrooms to ensure that all students understand and demonstrate the standards.  The Framework also serves as a foundational component of the teacher evaluation system.  The following documents will be made available to students, parents, and the community.

Visual Representation of the Big Ideas - conceptual organization of the content standards to visually show the big ideas that spiral throughout the PK-12 curriculum program.

Philosophy & Goals - program's purpose based on state and national curriculum content standards. 

Learning Strategies - strategies used by the student to successfully think and work within the content area. 

District Competencies - concepts and skills a student will understand and transfer across content areas and apply to real-life situations.

Sequence of Topics – content topics generally arranged PK-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12.

Student Friendly Standards - PK-8 content and skills students must know and be able to do in the format of a series of "I can" statements.

Course Competencies - 9-12 content and skills students must know and be able to do organized in 5 to 8 competency statements in the format of "student will understand" or "student will demonstrate."  Click here for course syllabus exemplar.  Click here for NH Department of Education Memo clarifying course level competencies.

Vocabulary - relevant vocabulary within the content area.

Co-Curricular and Extra-Curricular Activities - possible activities to support the content area.

Teachers will also develop and revise as needed the following documents.

Unit Plans – content, skills, and vocabulary organized into instructional units.  Taken together the trajectories/unit plans form an annual calendar to insure that all standards and skills are taught within the school year.

Lesson Plans - possible lessons to teach the instructional unit.

Assessments - possible assessments to determine what the student has learned and to guide instruction and provide support when the student has not learned.