The Medical Lake School District continues to make modifications to its class courses.
At its June meeting, the school board approved the second reading of Policy and Procedure 2020: Course Design Selection and Adoption.
The purpose of P2020 is to evaluate, adapt and develop course programs on a continuing basis. Course design will include providing appropriate instructional materials, professional development, and support systems for teachers. Instructional materials shall be selected to ensure alignment with state learning standards and help students in attaining skills to achieve college and career readiness, specifically critical thinking, discernment and examine what is a quality resource and identifying bias.
“Twenty-first century learning standards, all standards are emphasizing critical thinking,” Kim Headrick, director of teaching and learning said. “Students are exploring and understanding and focusing their skills that go in depth with their thinking.”
Under the P2020 there are five sets of materials:
● Core Instructional Materials — primary instructional resources for a given course to all students to help meet learning standards and provide instruction toward course requirements.
● Supplemental Materials — resources in conjunction with the core instructional materials of a course and extend and support instruction.
● Alternative Core Materials — primary instructional resources that are used with a subset of students and intended to replace approved core materials and may be used for specialized course offerings or flexible learning environments.
● Intervention Materials — materials designed to support strategic or intensive intervention for students who are at risk of not meeting established learning standards. They are used with students to accelerate progress toward particular learning goals based on systematic assessment, decision-making and progress monitoring.
● Temporary Supplemental Materials — items used in conjunction with the core instructional materials of a course that are of interest or value for a short period of time and are chosen within district-established guidelines. Some examples of these items include articles, websites, or news broadcasts.
“We can examine the history of Medical Lake and Spokane by using different means to explore that history from primary sources rather than look what someone has written about,” Headrick said.
The district has already experimented with supplemental materials this year, one being the adoption of the Engage New York math curriculum. Headrick said Engage New York has gone over “exceptionally well” in some areas, though there were some difficulties for students, mainly because they did not have experience in it.
“There are still gaps we have to fill, but we are seeing success as we are building to move forward as we build to next year,” Headrick said. “Engage New York is something that is continually updated as opposed to a textbook. The district can add to it.”
Headrick said the shift in classroom materials also allows the opportunity for project-based learning.
“This allows students to use resources that they may encounter later when they go into a career,” Headrick said.
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)