Tooele district emphasizes multi‑year ALPs, guaranteed curriculum and measurable 'moon' goals

Tooele County School District officials told the school board on Tuesday they are continuing a multi‑year instructional overhaul that starts with principals and focuses on four annual high‑leverage practices intended to raise student achievement. Dr. Cody Wright, presenting the district's academic approach, said the district's ALPs — which he defined as "annual high leverage practices" — are sequence‑based, process goals designed to build systemwide capacity rather than one‑off programs. "ALPs stands for annual high leverage practices," Wright said, adding that the district is running the ALPs on a four‑year cycle so schools return to each focus area repeatedly. The district pairs ALPs with guaranteed and viable curriculum (GVC) work. Wright said GVCs produce a scope‑and‑sequence map that ensures "every standard is accounted for" while recognizing schools must choose which standards get the most instructional time. He quoted research in explaining the emphasis on curriculum: "a guaranteed and viable curriculum is the most powerful school level factor in determining overall student achievement," a line Wright attributed to prior research and used to explain the district's choice to require teachers or teams to produce curriculum maps for two…