Creating the District Curriculum

1
Creating the District Curriculum

• It is easier to change the location of the
  cemetery than to change the school curriculum.
• Woodrow Wilson, 1917

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Curriculum Alignment/Not a New Event

• 2006-07 School Support Team audited both
  Lincoln and Garnet Mesa bringing the importance
  of Standards-based instruction to the forefront
  of the district
• 2007-08 Delta staff members visited the
  Performance Learning Center in Denver (Doug
  Reeves organization) to get training in
  unwrapping standards and standards prioritization
• 2006 The first writing PLC began for the
  district, hosted by Hotchkiss Middle School. We
  gave our first common assessment to 6th-8th
  graders and did common scoring.

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Where Weve Been

• 2007-08 District Writing PLC continued with K-10
  representatives.
• 2008-09 District Math PLC began with K-10
  representatives
• 2009/summer Reading PLC began with Language
  Arts teachers and content teachers across the
  district, K-12 representatives attended
• 2009-10 Reading and Writing PLCs combined-K-12
• 2010 Science PLC began-5-12

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Where Weve Been

• 2007-08 individual schools began unwrapping
  Standards, forming PLC data teams, writing common
  assessments, focusing on formative results
• 2007-10 individual school training on teaching
  Standards/Ava Lanes
• 2009 Ava Lanes did district training on
  Standards with principals and Directors and later
  included CAT
• 2010 Assessment matrix became a target for all
  schools in the district

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Where Weve Been

• 2010- CADI visit emphasizes need for more of a
  district curriculum, and recognizes the work
  begun in individual schools
• 2011- teachers are using I can statements,
  learning objectives, essentials, rubrics, scoring
  guides, and common assessments recorded on the
  assessment matrix
• 2011- conversations between schools and within
  schools are happening about Standards and best
  practices

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Why a next step?

• New standards in Language Arts and Math-2010
• A need to address standards in other content
  areas
• Schools at different places in standards
  implementation
• District assessments lack accountability.
• Proficient looks different from school to school.
• Teachers will know what to teach and when to
  teach which essential.

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Why?

• We still hear the phrase, Its just a bad
  class!
• Low expectations for some groups (Sped, ELL, for
  example)
• Essentials are being taught individually, not
  with a unit approach.
• We would be able to share resources across the
  district.
• Student mobility within the district

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Why?

• It will make us a school district, and not a
  district of schools.
• If we are teaching the same essentials at the
  same time, we can have real conversations about
  instruction.
• Best practices can be identified and replicated.
• We can share units and ideas.

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Why?

• Because it is good for kids, and morally the
  right thing to do to create a system that is
  equitable for all.

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Curriculum AlignmentDelta County Schools
Graduate With Options
Skills (Verbs)
Concepts (Nouns)
Content
Guaranteed, Viable Curriculum for Every
Student Mastery of Essential Learnings, Exposure
to Same Content, 21st Century Skills
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Training and Leadership

• Connie Kamm, a consultant from the Leadership and
  Learning Center (Doug Reeves company), will be
  conducting training in the district for all Phase
  I teachers and administrators.
• After each step of training, the curriculum
  director and curriculum design team leader in
  charge of the content area will take the Phase I
  teachers and finish what was started in the
  training.

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Primary/Secondary Leaders

• Our team of 6 will be the primary curriculum
  design leaders
• Language Arts-Doug Egging
• Math-Kurt Clay and Paul Rodriguez
• Science-Jim Farmer
• Social Studies-Derek Carlson
• Electives-Brent Curtice

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Primary/Secondary Leaders

• Our team of 7 will be secondary leaders
• Language Arts-Carrie Coats
• Math-Wayne Frazier
• Science-Greg Figenser
• Social Studies-Delaine Hudson
• Electives-Todd Markley, Mike Beard, Helen Groome
• Directors will attend as many trainings as
  possible

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Responsibilities/Primary

• will lead all sessions not conducted by
  consultant
• attend all trainings
• work directly with Curriculum Director and
  consultant in making crucial decisions
• continue the process after the design has been
  created 2012 and beyond
• choose teachers for Phases I, II, and III
• attend additional leadership meetings outside of
  trainings

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Responsibilities/Secondary

• work with leaders and teachers to accomplish the
  work
• give feedback to leaders share unique
  perspectives
• attend all trainings
• continue the process after the design has been
  created 2012 and beyond

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Job of Teacher Leaders-Phase 1,2,3

• Chosen by Primary Leaders and Curriculum
  Director(nominated by principals)
• Job Description
• Belief in the work
• Teaching experience
• Work ethic
• Commitment to the project
• Strong interpersonal skills

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Job Description of Teacher Leaders

• Willingness to take risks
• Flexibility
• Attention to detail
• Knowledge of Standards and curriculum writing
• Team player

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Phase I All Phase I Teachers and Admin Attend
February-June, 2011
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Phase I
2-day overview of rigorous curriculum process/led
by LL team and district team/February 1,2
Step 1 Prioritizing the Standards/led by LL
team and district team/March 2
Step 2 Identifying the units of study/led by LL
team and district team/March 3
Step 3 Assigning the Standards to units-priority
and supporting standards led by district team
only/March 7
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Phase I
Step 4 Preparing the pacing calendar/led by
district team only/March 8
Step 5 Construct unit planning organizer,
format the organizer, add the priority,
supporting, and interdisciplinary standards),
vocabulary/led by district team any days
following led by district team only/April 5
Step 6 Unwrapping the priority standards
within each unit of study, learn the process and
apply process to one or two units of study/led by
district team only/April 20
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Phase I
Write all unit frameworks including the
organizer, the unwrapping-Phase I teachers each
content area works at their own schedule with a
due date of June 2011./led by district
team/Open, will need approximately 8 hours
Most of Phase I training day work can be
accomplished on that day. If additional time is
needed to complete a step, district leadership
will complete without the trainer. A deadline
will be established and the Primary Leader(s)
will determine how it will be accomplished.
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Phase II All Phase I and II Teachers and Admin
Attend
June-December, 2011
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Phase II-June-December, 2011
Step 7 Create unit assessments (pre and post
tests)-learn the process and apply to one or two
units district quarterly tests created /led by
LL team and district team several days to follow
training led by district team only/June 9,
10/district will work on assessments the week of
June 13-17
Step 8 Plan engaging learning
experiences-creating performance tasks and
scoring guides-apply to 1-2 units-1 or 2 days
continue work on performance tasks-develop for at
least one unit. include corrective and
enrichment strands Phase I and II would attend
and all admin/led by LL team and district team
several days to follow training led by district
team only/August 11-12
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Phase II
_____________ Step 9 Detail the unit all six
categories of instructional strategies, decide
learning progressions sequence of unit
activities, and detail a unit-2 days-all Phase I
and II teachers and admin attend/led by LL team
and district team days following led by district
team only/date not set
_____________ Step 10 Write the weekly plan,
design the daily lesson-one day to create an
example of each for unit of study-2 days-all
Phase I and II teachers and admin attend/led by
LL team and district team/days following led by
district team only/date not set
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Phase II

• Exemplar Units Created
• Unit organization
• Instructional strategies
• Rubrics
• Assessments
• Objectives
• Materials, resources to tie in content
• Performance-based focus
• Weekly, daily plan

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Completion after 2011
Individual teachers will write their own units,
using the exemplar as a model preferably in PLC
groups units will be posted in the curriculum
folder
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Phase III June, 2011-April, 2012
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Phase III (Cohort 2)-June, 2011-April, 2012
Trained admin would lead this process without
assistance from the Leadership and Learning
Center. All electives would be addressed again
one exemplar unit would be created and the
framework of the unit organizer, unwrapped
standards, suggested materials and resources,
vocabulary, acceleration and intervention
strands, all pre and post tests and district
quarterly assessments would be developed../led
by district admin team only
11 teachers will participate 3 each from each
level in art, music, health and pe, and 2 high
school teachers in Spanish the question of
vocational and technology classes will need to be
addressed as they have no state standards. ELL
and SPED will be included in Core areas
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Monitoring/Accountability
Grade Level/Content Area Data Team Analysis of
Pretest, Posttest, and Dipstick Results
School-level PLC teams, CAT-What is monitored?
Assessment matrix
School Level Analysis of PretestPosttest
Growth-CAT, Principals, Assistant Principals-
What is monitored? Assessment matrix
District Level Analysis of Posttest Results,
District Quarterly Assessments-Administrative
Teams, Principals, District Administration/Distric
t Calendar-What is monitored? Alpine reports by
teacher, school, district
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Purpose of Monitoring
District Identification of Promising Strategies,
Best Practices-Shared with CAT, Brought Back to
School-Level PLCs-Monitored by School Admin Team
Posting of Promising Strategies/Best Practices on
District Curriculum Server/ Podcast, Video
Clips-Mike Jensen
Best Practice Models Available to All Delta
County Teachers
Accountability at all Levels
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Monitoring/Accountability
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Monitoring/Accountability

• Ongoing work in both Phase I and II will be
  shared at monthly principal meetings by the
  leaders of the effort to make sure all
  administrators are up to date and able to support
  the work
• District administration assigned to schools will
  monitor use of curriculum work by looking at
  assessment matrices completed by school PLC
  groups and Alpine reports for assigned schools
• Although all 4 district indicators of success
  will continue, curriculum alignment will be the
  focus of the monthly meetings

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Technology
Teacher Interactive Website Curriculum
Server/Interactive Units, Activities, Podcasts,
Video Clips, Resources/added as an icon to
teacher/admin desktops
GotoMeeting. com ( 15 Participants at One Time)
Skype, Instant Messaging, Email, Blogs, Wikis
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Needed Resources and Training
Textbooks, Trade Books, School-Level Technology
System to Begin Pooling Textbook, Technology
School Budgets (School and District) to Purchase
Needed Resources at the District Level
Data team analysis training (CAT and others)
sharing of units district wide with ideas for
acceleration and intervention common class
offerings at high school level, standards-based
grading
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Always Keep the End in Mind
Guaranteed, Viable Curriculum for Every
Student Mastery of Essential Learnings, Exposure
to Same Content, 21st Century Thinking Skills
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In Closing

• What we know today does not make yesterday
  wrong, it makes tomorrow better.
• Carol Commodore