The State College Area School District utilizes an ongoing curriculum cycle that includes researching current practices; developing curriculum; providing professional development; considering, adopting, and purchasing resources; and evaluating the curriculum.  As we develop curriculum, we utilize an Understanding by Design Framework (Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J., 2007) to create curriculum that supports students in developing understandings as they engage in meaningful learning experiences across all content areas K-12. Curriculum is written using a "backwards-design" approach - considering outcomes at the outset as we design curriculum, assessment, and learning experiences.

 

Each grade level is listed in the navigation bar to the left and includes a link to each content area for that grade level. The information included is only a brief overview of the curriculum - outlining understandings and/or standards for a particular content area. Curriculum is designed to support students as they "know" content and "do" skills for each subject, but we are working to move students to greater "understandings" about what they are studying through the use of essential questions and inquiry. Teachers utilize our curriculum documents to create lessons and learning experiences that are responsive to their students' needs, interests, and learning profiles.

 

For more information about our elementary program, please check out our brochure.