All Means All
March, 2022
UDL, Curriculum Work, and the Vision...
Throughout the duration of this school year, the focus of professional development has been on Universal Design for Learning and the curriculum work (the science of reading and small group instruction strategies for elementary and unit plan design for 5-12). These collaborative learning opportunities set the foundation for the work moving forward. Since we are still in the beginning stages, we are at a place in which the learning may be done separately, causing the vision for how they are connected to be difficult to visualize. The purpose of this newsletter is to shed light on how all of our work connects to the long term vision; each piece is a critical part to the main goal of all students demonstrating proficiency in District promise standards. As we continue to improve our systems and collaborative teaming structures to support our goals, better defining and clarifying the vision will assist in developing action steps along the way. This also better builds the why and helps staff understand how ultimately, everything connects.
Long term vision: All students proficient in District Promise Standards (rigor, relevance, relationships)
Two main components necessary to reach this vision:
1. Unit Plans (clear learning priorities such as Promise Standards, ELT’s, main assessments/resources
2. Collaborative Meeting Structures (teams that meet to discuss the unit plans to determine learning priorities and re-design the lesson and assessment materials based on students needs, interests, and strengths: UDL!)
As you can see, the work we are engaging in is to help these two components be ready for collaborative meetings; it gives teams the foundation they need to have high level conversations around intentional planning and instructional design. This also ties into how we support students and ensures we have a system in place for students who are exceeding benchmarks or not making adequate progress (in academics and SEL).
We Know the Why, Let's Talk About the How?
We recognize that to be effective in meeting the diverse needs of learners, we must work together. To do this, we will instill district commitments into our practices. These include Professional Learning Communities (PLC), Responsive Classroom, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This support process is linked to this work and is another imperative piece that holds our systems together.