Curriculum
In Englewood Schools, teachers and administrators have worked together collaboratively to create a comprehensive curriculum for teachers to use when planning lessons for student learning. As part of the Academic Advancement Initiative, we have taken focused and bold action to ensure equity for all by implementing:
- Cohesive and aligned curricula
- Strategic teacher and principal development through collaborative structures
We are in pursuit of remarkable improvements throughout Englewood Schools so that all students graduate as leaders, thinkers, and explorers of tomorrow. The curricula is the foundation for our instructional infrastructure. District leadership made a promise to our teachers that we would provide a clear, coherent, and quality curriculum that guides teachers during weekly collaborative meetings, supports alignment of lesson plans to the rigor of the standards and helps build teacher understanding of each standard.
The curricula is based on the 2020 standards as required by the Colorado Department of Education. We used the Common Core State Standards to write the English language arts and mathematics curricula, which is aligned to the Colorado Academic Standards. Englewood Schools is currently using the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to write the science curricula, which is the foundation for the Colorado Academic Standards. We are also in the process of writing the secondary social studies curriculum that is based on the Colorado Academic Standards. For the remaining standards (physical education, music, art, etc.), we use the Colorado Academic Standards to guide teachers with lesson planning.
The Curriculum and Assessment Committee, which is made up of teachers, instructional coaches, administrators and district staff adopted the following definition from Great Schools Partnerships to describe our vision for a curriculum.
Curriculum refers to the knowledge and skills students are expected to learn, which includes the learning standards or learning objectives they are expected to meet; the units and lessons that teachers teach; the assignments and projects given to students; the books, materials, videos, presentations, and readings used in a course; and the tests, assessments, and other methods used to evaluate student learning. An individual teacher’s curriculum, for example, would be the specific learning standards, lessons, assignments, and materials used to organize and teach a particular course.
Please contact Jenny Buster, Director of Learning Services, at jenny_buster@engschools.net with any questions you might have.