Rapid City Area Schools No. 51-4

Curriculum Development Process

District Mission

“Building a community of lifelong learners, one student at a time.”

District Vision

“All Rapid City Area School students will achieve to their full potential.”

2

Table of Contents

Curriculum Development Process Committee Members 3

I. Curriculum Defined 4-6 Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum 4 Professional Learning Community 4 Curriculum Alignment 4 Curriculum Definitions 5

Written

Taught

Tested Curriculum Beliefs 5 Instructional Beliefs 5-6 Assessment Beliefs 6 II. Curriculum Expectations 6-10 1) The Written Curriculum 6

Components of the Written Curriculum 2) The Taught Curriculum 7-9

Instructional Model

Data-Driven Instruction and Learning

Instructional Staff Development Instructional Roadmap 8-9 Curriculum Templates 9 3) The Tested Curriculum 9

Curriculum Development Cycle 9-10 III. Curriculum Roles and Responsibilities 10-12 Board of Education 10 Superintendent and Executive Team 11 Principals 11 Curriculum Coordinators & Support Personnel 11 Teachers 12 Parents/Community 12 Students 12

3

Curriculum Development Process Committee Members

Katie Anderson Science and Reading, East Middle School Dustin Blaha Staff Development Coordinator Wendy Conrad FACS, Central High School Ruth Conway Math, Stevens High School Ranae Hofer Secondary ELA Coordinator John Julius Principal, Stevens High School Deann Kertzman Elementary Math Coordinator Michelle Nelin-Maruani Secondary Social Studies Coordinator Dr. Lisa Plumb Director, Federal Grants/Programs & Assessment Sharon Rendon Secondary Math Coordinator Michael Talley Principal, Central High School Amy Zens Kindergarten, Horace Mann Elementary Dr. Diana Koch Director, Curriculum & Instruction, Committee Chair

4

I. CURRICULUM DEFINED The role of curriculum is to put in to action the district’s mission, ”Building a community of lifelong learners, one student at a time.” and the district’s vision, “All Rapid City students will achieve to their full potential.” Two non-negotiable components of the curriculum are: 1) it must be guaranteed and viable; and 2) it must be developed collaboratively by teachers in a Professional Learning Community (PLC). GUARANTEED AND VIABLE CURRICULUM A Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum (GVC) consists of district-wide articulated standards. Standards are communicated with common learning targets and assessments that fully outline the content, concepts, and skills that are essential within an academic discipline. The purpose is to ensure all students have the opportunity to achieve proficiency. Guaranteed and viable curriculum provides clarity and guidance to principals, teachers, students, and parents about the core curriculum and its essential content and skills. Having this document in place, clearly indicating common learning targets and common summative assessments provides the parameters for teachers to ensure that all students have the same opportunities for learning throughout each academic discipline. Viability is attained when the articulated essential content and skills can be taught and learned (not rushed and covered) within the timeframes available during the academic year. PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY A professional learning community (PLC) is focused on student achievement through teacher collaboration. Three big ideas of the PLC include:

1) Ensuring that all students learn (focus on evidence of student learning). 2) Building a collaborative culture (adults in a PLC are continuously learning about how students

learn). 3) Establishing a focus on results (measurable student growth drives decisions about instruction).

The PLC process focuses on these critical questions:

What do we want students to learn?

How will we know if students are learning?

How will we respond when students do not learn?

How will we enrich and extend the learning for students who are proficient? CURRICULUM ALIGNMENT Curriculum alignment is an agreement of what is written, taught, and tested horizontally by grade level and vertically K-12. A guaranteed and viable aligned curriculum that is developed through a shared interpretation of state approved standards is research-based and proven to result in greater student success when implemented with fidelity.

5

CURRICULUM DEFINITIONS Written Curriculum is determined by state approved standards and stated as essential learning targets and common summative assessments in the district pacing guides. These pacing guides define what students will know and be able to do as a result of instruction. Taught Curriculum refers to instruction, the process by which teachers collaboratively develop units of study, lesson plans, and approaches to instruction for teaching the written curriculum. The taught curriculum is the implementation of the Instructional Roadmap. The major objective is to engage students in the information, skills, and practice necessary to successfully achieve content specific competency. Tested Curriculum is formative and summative assessment of the taught curriculum. It is used to measure student learning and to determine student needs. The tested curriculum provides teachers continuous data for the purpose of improving instructional practice, providing student feedback, and increasing student learning. CURRICULUM BELIEFS

• Curriculum (written, taught, and tested) establishes the framework that guides educational decision-making for K-12 at the Rapid City Area Schools. • Curriculum development is a participatory process that includes: teacher teams supported by principals, administrators, students, parents, and community as appropriate. • Curriculum is based on a core set of non-negotiable, relevant and challenging essential learning targets that guide decisions about teaching and learning. • Curriculum is developed to ensure that students from teacher to teacher and school to school have the same essential learning targets and common summative assessments. • Curriculum is developed collaboratively by all teachers in a grade level or content specific area and continuously updated, accessible and manageable. • Curriculum is assessed regularly at all levels: district, classroom and by student academic growth. • Curriculum resources such as textbooks, open-educational resources, and other materials are collaboratively selected by teachers in grade level or content specific teams.

INSTRUCTIONAL BELIEFS

• The “South Dakota Teacher Effectiveness Handbook” provides direction for teachers’ professional practice at the Rapid City Area Schools. • The design and implementation of the “Learning-Assessment Process” holds the greatest potential for improving student achievement.

6

• The “RCAS District Direction Model” identifies balanced literacy, inquiry mathematics, technology literacy and diverse opportunities for learning success as the standards of instructional practice. • Teachers work in PLC teams to collaboratively create lessons that deepen student understanding of essential learning. • Professional learning and development to improve instructional practice is ongoing and aligned to curriculum.

ASSESSMENT BELIEFS • Assessment data guides the design of curriculum, instruction, and evaluation. • Assessment identifies strengths and gaps in student learning. • Assessment provides appropriate and immediate feedback to students. • Assessment guides intervention and enrichment decisions. • Assessment communicates progress to families in support of learning at home.

II. CURRICULUM EXPECTATIONS

1) THE WRITTEN CURRICULUM

COMPONENTS OF THE WRITTEN CURRICULUM Research and best practice demonstrates that learning is enhanced by a guaranteed and viable curriculum (GVC). A GVC promotes continuity and cumulative acquisition of skills and knowledge from grade to grade and from school to school. With this expectation, the K-12 curriculum shall be guided by the adopted state standards and pacing guides that define essential learning targets and common summative assessments. Proficiency level descriptors (PLDs) will be used to provide guidance for analysis of formative and common summative assessments.

PACING GUIDE A Pacing Guide is created by district-level teacher teams and shall contain the following components: Timeline for Pacing Essential Standards Essential Questions (depending on content area preference) Essential Learning Targets

o Additional supporting standards (depending on content area preference) Common Summative Assessments (with PLDs) – [Used for pre- and post-assessment] Vocabulary

7

2) THE TAUGHT CURRICULUM

An Instructional Roadmap serves as a framework that guides teachers’ instructional practice and is aligned with district level pacing. All teachers in the collaborative PLC team have a responsibility to contribute to the development and refinement of the taught curriculum. Teachers are expected to teach and assess the curriculum as aligned and articulated in their pacing guides and roadmap. Additionally, Instructional Roadmaps inform support staff and building administrators on how to support teachers and the delivery of the curriculum. The three sections below provide the mindset for which curriculum is developed and delivered.

A) INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL In addition to consistent delivery of the learning expectations in the curriculum, it is expected that instructional delivery will be based on sound teaching principles grounded in educational research and best practice and aligns with the Rapid City District Direction. The instructional delivery process is to include: • Establishment of a school climate conducive to learning. • Implementation of research-based practices/strategies to teach the curriculum including balanced literacy, inquiry mathematics, technology literacy, and diverse opportunities for learning success. • The expectation that all students can be successful and will learn at high levels. • Varying the time for learning according to the students’ needs and determined by the PLC team. • Having both teachers and students take responsibility for learning. • Determining students’ current skills/learning to guide instruction at appropriate levels. • Using the PLC Team Data Phase to make instructional decisions on student achievement. • Matching instructional strategies and assessments to the learning targets. • Collaborating to provide corrective/intervention opportunities for students who do not attain mastery. • Collaborating to provide enhancement for students who master the learning targets. • Use technology as a tool to teach and learn the required curriculum. • Use the Rapid City Learning-Assessment Process to understand the impact of the design of the curriculum (written, taught, and tested) on student achievement.

B) DATA-DRIVEN INSTRUCTION AND LEARNING Evidence of “data-driven instruction” includes such things as: • Pre-assessment and post-assessment of students’ learning levels for instructional design purposes. • Focusing/narrowing instruction by teaching to expectations not mastered. • Flexible grouping and regrouping of students within/or out the classroom. • Varying instructional time, setting, and presentation for intervention and enrichment opportunities. • Students communicating about their learning and achievement. • Students setting individual learning goals and being given supports to achieve them. • Identifying and understanding instructional strategies and assessment strategies for increasing student achievement.

8

Using data for: • Student placement in special programs. • Identifying general achievement trends across the district. • Building and district improvement plans. • Adopting, evaluating, and improving instructional programs.

C) INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF DEVELOPMENT Professional development for teachers is focused on continuous improvement of the instructional strategies needed to teach the curriculum as defined in the Instructional Road Map. The collaborative PLC structure supports a natural environment for job-embedded learning and continuous improvement. Specific teacher development should be communicated from the PLC team to the building administrator. All staff development should provide: • Research-based and best practice professional development in the design and delivery of curriculum. • Using data to improve teaching and learning processes. • Understanding the classroom, building, and district as a system. • On-the-job application of learning with follow-up and support. • Understanding differentiation and its use in improving student achievement. • Time for teachers to develop written curriculum and share ideas and strategies. • The expectation that learning and improving is part of teachers’ professional responsibility. • Integration of technology to facilitate 21st century learning. • Increasing content specific knowledge.

INSTRUCTIONAL ROADMAP An Instructional Roadmap is created by the each building level PLC team and shall contain the following components: Introduction: Description of subject or course taught. (Should be the same in the registration handbook). District Mission Statement Collaborative PLC Teams’ Belief Statement District Team Pacing Guide with links to common summative assessments for (pre-test & post-

test). Link to approved state standards (national standards if state approved standards are not available).

Instructional Roadmap: • Developed units of instruction that align with the pacing guide. Contain essential questions, essential standards and learning targets [from pacing guide] and

additional supporting content standards and learning targets for each unit in the pacing guide. Contain vocabulary from pacing guide and additional vocabulary if necessary. Define what students need to know, understand, and do for essential and supporting learning

targets.

9

Contain common formative assessments with proficiency level descriptors similar in format and rigor to the tasks on the district-wide common summative assessment.

Instructional strategies and instructional materials used by the PLC team. A calendar for learning targets and assessments.

The guides may contain additional components as directed by the collaborative PLC team.

CURRICULUM TEMPLATES

Two templates are required to be completed by all grade level and content area district teacher teams; the Curriculum Guide Cover Page template and the Pacing Guide template. An optional third template is available for the Instructional Roadmap; a PLC team may use their own format for the instructional roadmap, however, the roadmap should contain all of the components listed above under the “Instructional Roadmap” section. Additionally, a template of a blank calendar is available for team planning of learning targets and assessments.

Common templates can be downloaded from the following links:

RCAS Elementary Curriculum Guide Cover RCAS Elementary Pacing Guide RCAS Elementary Instructional Roadmap RCAS Secondary Curriculum Guide Cover RCAS Secondary Pacing Guide RCAS Secondary Instruction Roadmap RCAS Planning Calendar

3) THE TESTED CURRICULUM Appropriate and timely process and student achievement data are needed to support the Rapid City Learning-Assessment Process and the PLC Team Data Phase. Therefore, the tested curriculum must provide for the acquisition, analysis, and communication of process and student achievement data to: • Understand the impact that the design of the curriculum (written, taught, tested) has on student achievement. • Measure student progress. • Look for holes in student learning. • Guide teachers’ design and redesign of instruction at appropriate levels of challenge. • Guide students’ learning. • Guide ongoing improvement of curriculum alignment and instructional decisions. • Communicate progress to parents to support learning at home. To this end, the tested curriculum includes the following components but is not limited to: 1. A variety of process and results-oriented tools to assess student learning, programs, and curriculum including: Teacher developed assessments (common formative and summative, district benchmark, course exams, curriculum-based; etc.); and state accountability assessments; placement assessments for special programs; and college entrance exams or placement exams.

10

2. An information management system that provides timely, efficient district assessment feedback to students, teachers, parents, principals, and district administrators. 3. Ongoing classroom-level formative assessment of student learning in a variety of formats (ex: portfolio, performance, production, demonstration, etc.) 4. Adequate staff development and practice in the format of required assessments. 5. An evaluation process that guides curriculum redesign, instructional planning, and curriculum decisions based on student achievement within each content/grade level. CURRICULUM PACING REVIEW CYCLE The curriculum pacing review cycle will include three phases: • Phase I – Development of the district-wide Cover Page and Pacing Guide and the PLC Instructional Roadmaps for grade level or content area shall be completed. • Phase II – Vertical alignment curriculum teams consisting of horizontal content-area/grade level representatives will meet to review curriculum guides and modify as necessary for K-12 alignment. • Phase III – Pacing guides and instructional roadmaps are dynamic documents designed for ongoing revision by the respective PLC team. Pacing guides will be placed on a review cycle aligned to the South Dakota Department of Education adoption cycle of standards. The pacing guides will be presented to the Instructional Council for recommendation and to the Rapid City Board of Education for approval. Materials adoption will align with the approval cycle as closely as possible. Special consideration of curriculum instructional materials to be purchased may be necessary and will be considered on an individual basis. Guidelines for piloting and selecting materials.

III. CURRICULUM ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Board of Education

The Board is responsible for establishing policies that support ongoing curriculum development and evaluation. The Board is responsible for adopting a budget that supports the development, implementation, and training needed to effectively deliver the curriculum. The Board officially adopts the Rapid City Area School District curriculum guides and curriculum standards that students are to be expected to master.

11

Superintendent & Executive Team

The Superintendent is responsible for the implementation of curriculum as described in Board of Education policies. The Executive Team, under direction of the Superintendent is responsible for: • Setting curriculum guidelines and priorities. • Building a structure that organizes and facilitates collaborative PLC teams to develop and review the curriculum. • Providing and locating training and resources needed to implement the curriculum. • Providing direction and support to Principals in their role of implementing and managing the curriculum in their building.

Principals Principals shall lead the implementation of the guaranteed and viable curriculum. As instructional leaders, the building principal’s support is key to implementing and monitoring the curriculum. The Principal must support curriculum delivery on a daily basis. Expectations to effectively be an instructional leader include: • Develop a working knowledge of curriculum documents for all content and courses. • Analyze student assessment data. • Create time for and conditions for teachers to develop written curriculum and share ideas and strategies. • Support individual teachers, PLC teacher leaders, and PLC teams. • Support collaborative PLC teams in the use of data to focus and improve instruction. • Provide regular observation and feedback of teaching in all classrooms. • Hold meetings with building and district instructional facilitators. • Participate in research-based professional development activities. • Participate in district-based training opportunities. • Manage the supervision of the professional development process. • Collaborate with district and other building administrators. • Helping parents understand their role in supporting learning of the curriculum.

District Level Curriculum Support

District wide curriculum support is provided by curriculum coordinators who support building the capacity of classroom teachers to ensure all students learn. Additionally they develop the skills of teacher leaders who coach and mentor teachers in the district. Their role is to:

• Collaborate with building principals to effectively design and implement professional development. • Research best practice in delivering standards based curriculum and instruction. • Provide professional development for the PLC process. • Provide professional development to appropriate audiences for effective delivery of the curriculum, instructional practices, assessment, and integration of technology. • Provide training to individuals who model and coach classroom instructional strategies. • Participate on district and building committees. • Assist teacher teams with the review and selection of curriculum materials that align with instructional practice.

12

Teachers - PLC Teams Teachers are responsible for effectively planning and teaching the required written curriculum and for assessing student mastery with a variety of assessment tools, including any required district/state assessments. To support learning of the required curriculum, teachers should: • Align professional practice with Danielson Framework for Teaching • Align pedagogy with district philosophy: constructivist learning; inquiry mathematics; and balanced literacy. • Collaboratively plan in PLC to develop instructional roadmaps and deliver the written curriculum. • Actively engage all students in the learning process and planning process where possible • Use classroom data and common assessment data and plan and implement intervention and enrichment for students • Involve students in the learning process and in the planning process where possible. • Communicate learning strengths and needs to students, parents, and others as necessary. • Encourage parents to support learning of the curriculum. • Participate in the training and collaboration needed to effectively carry out these functions. • Reflect on individual practice to effectively revise instruction, collaborate with peers, and identify personal professional growth.

Parents/Community

Parents are encouraged to participate in the education of their children through such things as attending student/teacher/principal conferences, supporting students as they complete homework, volunteering at school when possible, and communicating regularly with teachers. Parents are also encouraged to provide their children with the nutrition, rest, and materials needed to be ready for school participation. Parents are encouraged to support learning through their children’s prompt and regular attendance at school.

Students

Students are responsible for learning and for understanding their learning strengths and needs. Students are responsible for meeting learning goals based on the required curriculum. Students are responsible for their behavior and its impact on their own learning and the learning of others.

Final Revision – 04/14