Sheridan County School District #2 > District > Curriculum

District Curriculum

CURRICULUM

SCSD2 is dedicated to supporting and empowering students to reach their full potential through rigorous and relevant curriculum. Teachers and staff develop, analyze, and revise curricular resources K-12 on an ongoing basis through the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) model. Each school in our district is a Professional Learning Community, and all staff are PLC trained.

The curriculum for Sheridan County School District No. 2 is comprised of priority standards, core instructional materials, and supplemental instructional programs. Taken together, the curriculum of this school district is aligned with Wyoming Content & Performance Standards and designed to be both challenging and engaging for a wide variety of student interests and abilities. Every effort is made to organize and select curriculum programs that are research-based and represent quality teaching practices.

Wyoming Content and Performance Standards serve several purposes. Standards describe what students need to know and be able to do by the end of each grade level. They explain the knowledge, concepts, and skills each scholar should acquire to be college, career, or military-ready by the time they graduate high school. These expectations are communicated to scholars, parents, educators, and stakeholders, providing educators with a shared understanding of what students should learn at particular grades. Standards do not define all that can or should be taught; they outline end-of-year expectations for all students.

SCSD2 & WYCPS Curriculum Transparency Draft (Note: Currently in development)

ASSESSMENT

SCSD2 leverages the four critical questions of a PLC to address all requirements of the District Assessment System (DAS). Developing and refining the DAS is not an occasional event in our district. Instead, the work is embedded in our continuous cycles of inquiry tied to the critical questions.

Critical Question 1 – What do we expect students to learn?

SCSD2 teams begin answering this question by studying and unpacking the Wyoming Content and Performance Standards for all content areas, including analysis of each standard’s cognitive complexity. When standards are revised or newly released, district teams follow this same process to ensure implementation within three years. Our teams also engage in ongoing efforts to ensure vertical articulation of the standards across grade levels.

Critical Question 2 – How will we know if students have learned it?

SCSD2 collaborative teams design district and school level common assessments around the outcomes from critical question 1. School teams meet weekly and district teams several times each year to design and refine common assessments that align with standards. Part of this process is developing and revising proficiency scales and rubrics that define levels of student performance relative to each standard. In addition, district teams conduct vertical examinations of assessments to ensure that assessments are addressing appropriate grade level skills. Teams collect student work from common assessments and engage in professional study to identify proficient work, ensure alignment with standards, and drive instruction that helps students master standards. Student scores and levels of proficiency collected from common assessments are stored within the student information system, Infinite Campus and other supplemental systems.

Critical Question 3 – How will we respond when students struggle? & Critical Question 4 – How will we respond when students have achieved mastery?

After administering common assessments that align with state standards, teams analyze data to identify students who need support. In addition, teams drill into assessment data and student work to pinpoint specific areas of misunderstanding within each standard. Teams then organize intervention activities where students have another opportunity to learn what they missed in the first round of instruction. Finally, students are re-assessed relative to the standard in question, ensuring that students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate what they understand, know, and can do.

Additionally, teams identify students who have demonstrated mastery and are in need to extensions to deepen their learning. SCSD2 is committed to ensuring a year’s growth for every student, including students who demonstrate mastery of grade level content.

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