December 1, 2022 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Curriculum, Assessment, & Professional Practices Committee Meeting

Key Points of the Briefing: 

• We updated the art curriculum to reflect the 2014 National Core Arts Standards which require students to create, respond, present, and connect to their art.

• The following is the art curricula being brought forward for approval:

  • Grade 7 Art

  • Grade 8 Art

  • Grade 7 Multimedia 

  • Grade 8 Multimedia

  • BMS Unified Art
  • BHS Unified Art

• The global competencies are embedded within the curricula

• Diverse artists and works of art are being included in the curriculum to work towards addressing our BOE goals

• We have created enduring understandings and essential questions which address the National Core Arts Standards

• Performance tasks are provided to students which help inform our teaching practices.

Key Points of the Briefing: 

• Literary Art Publications is a course designed to introduce students to the process of content acquisition to publication and distribution. Students will move from ideation to final creation using our global competency skills. 

• This course offering will be in support of our Arts Pathway

• Over the course of a semester, students will engage in both our Common Core Writing Standards and our National Core Visual Art and Media Standards.

• Students will be exposed to the following elements:

  • Creative writing (poetry and prose)

  • Photography digital media

  • Editing skills- written work

  • Curation- selection and hierarchy

  • Publishing- layout and design

  • Image editing (industry standard)

  • Book creation (industry standard)

• Costs associated with this new course:

  • Curriculum work will be needed this summer 

Key Points of the Briefing: 

• The Great Diseases is a course that was created by Tufts University Center for Science Education with the goal of providing "approachable, innovative, and life-relevant content, designed to improve science engagement and health literacy." 

• The course can be taken as a full year course or as two separate semester courses. This will allow for flexibility in student schedules. 

• The Great Diseases: Infectious Diseases and Neurological Disorders 

  • The Great Diseases: Infectious Diseases and Neurological Disorders is a semester-long course designed for students with an interest in the topic or with career aspirations in a healthcare field. 

  • Students will engage in two units of study: Infectious Diseases and  Neurological Diseases.

  • Students will use case studies based on actual research to further investigate each type of disease or disorder, and the public health response. 

  •  Students will be asked to develop scientific questions, design experiments, analyze and evaluate data, predict and communicate results, and develop models. 

• The Great Diseases: Metabolic Diseases and Cancer

  • The Great Diseases: Metabolic Diseases and Cancer is a semester-long course designed for students with an interest in the topic or with career aspirations in a healthcare field. 

  • Students will engage in two units of study: Metabolic Diseases and  Cancer. 

  • Students will use case studies based on actual research to further investigate each type of disease or disorder, and the public health response. 

  • Students will be asked to develop scientific questions, design experiments, analyze and evaluate data, predict and communicate results, and develop models. 

• The course will support the Common Core State Standards for Literacy and the Next Generation Science Standards. 

• Curriculum can be obtained from Tufts Center for Science Education. 

• We will also engage in curriculum writing this summer to support our needs.

Key Points of the Briefing: 

• We updated our AP Biology books from the 8th edition to the 12th edition to fall in line with current biology information. A class set of books were ordered for our students since the books we had were outdated (2008). This book has already been approved by the Board and remains a recommended book by College Board.

  • Cost $4,562

• We will be piloting a senior elective course second semester, Mythology and Symbolism

  • This course will provide more choice for our students and is a "fan favorite" for many (appeal)

  • Currently we offer: Sports Literature, Sci Fi Fantasy, Advanced Writing, Gender Studies, Contemporary Literature and AP/Honors Courses

  • We already have access to scholarly articles, online resources, and we will look to our library as well

  • We will begin to write curriculum as we go and over the summer

  • We plan to bring the course forward for approval in the Fall