Curriculum and Instruction
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It is the position of Wasatch School District and Wasatch Board of Education that content instruction is based on Utah State Core Curriculum and Power Standards as identified by the Professional Learning Communities in the district, rather than programs or materials.
Professional learning communities create an intensive focus on learning by clarifying exactly what students are to learn, based on identified standards, and the sequence of that learning by developing curriculum maps. Power standards, or essential standards, are those standards from the state core that meet the following criteria:
- Does it have endurance? Do we really expect our students to retain the knowledge and skills over time as opposed to merely learning it for a test?
- Does it have leverage? Will proficiency in this standard help the student in other areas of the curriculum and other academic disciplines?
- Does it develop student readiness for the next level of learning? Is it essential for success in the next unit, course, or grade level?
- Does it have value? Is it part of the core assessment?
Teacher ownership of and commitment to the curriculum their students will be asked to master plays an important role in the quality of student learning. Collaborative study of essential learning�
- Promotes consistent priorities
- Is crucial to the pacing required for common assessments
- Can help establish a curriculum that is viable
- Creates ownership of the curriculum among those who are asked to teach it.
