2009-2010 Self-Study WASC Action Plan - Julian Charter School

• ESLRs are designed to promote the integration of skills
such as critical thinking, problem solving and communication
in the teaching of core academic subjects.
• PLCs are beginning to work on designing curriculum
that explicitly integrates 21st century skills
within the context of core academic subjects.
• Model units include the integration of 21st century
skills in a meaningful, real-world context.
• Curriculum design processes follow backwards-design
principles (e.g., Understanding by Design); teams are
in the process of identifying 21st century skills as key
outcomes.
• Curriculum-embedded assessments are common
practice and may include authentic tasks.
• Curriculum design within a personalized learning program
provides opportunities to:
• Learn about subjects of interest in depth
• Connect new learning across disciplines
• Connect new learning to prior knowledge
• Construct new knowledge
• Apply learning in real-world contexts
• Curriculum design in a personalized learning program
includes a variety of approaches to and philosophies
of learning. Academies and the high school program
more frequently differentiate curriculum using
strategies from the first column below, while home
study students may come to us with a style of education
already decided (based on the second column)
and then incorporate strategies from the first column.
• For example, a home study family using a Classical
approach studies a medieval scholastic curriculum
where all subjects are taught concurrently. All of
the children in the family study the same topic(s)
at the same time with varying levels of curricular
support materials and instruction.
• ESLRs
• Curriculum maps
• PLC, forum, site, department
and curriculum team
meeting notes
• Student interviews
• Student work
• Professional development
logs and book lists
• Benchmark tests, Friday
Quick Checks, DataDirector
assessment database
• ReportWriter assignments
• JCS Online and courses of
study, pacing guides, scope
and sequence charts (textbooks,
CLO, mapping)
• Concern reports/IEP goals
• K-8 academy Individual
Learning Plans (ILPs)
• Teacher and parent
interviews
• Handouts from parent
professional development
sessions
Resource Center:
• Houses over 990,000
pieces of curriculum and
learning tools
• Includes professional
development resources
for both parents and
teachers
• Learning Styles
• Project/Problembased
Learning
• Constructivism
• Brain-based
• Metacognition
• Experiential
• Charlotte Mason
• Classical
• Eclectic
• Traditional
• Unit Studies
• Unschooling
• Waldorf
Ongoing and Future
Professional Development:
• Curricular design
• Curricular approaches
• Curriculum differentiation
• Backwards-design
• Curriculum mapping
Chapter 4: Self-Study Findings: Curriculum
60 Julian Charter School Focus on Learning 2009-2010