Germantown committee outlines social studies curriculum review using "Understanding by Design"

The Germantown School District Teaching and Learning Committee received an informational update May 5 on the district's social studies curriculum review and the use of Understanding by Design (UbD) to prioritize standards and guide instruction.

District staff presented the purpose and early-stage work of a multi‑phase review that focuses first on analyzing state and district standards, prioritizing learning targets, and producing UbD stage‑1 documents that translate standards into classroom expectations. "When we talk about standards, we're defining what students should know and be able to do at each grade level," said Jake Nazir, a staff member who led the presentation. He described UbD as a "backwards design" process that starts with desired student understandings and then shapes assessments and instruction to meet those goals.

Nazir told the committee the review seeks to remove ambiguity from grade‑level standards so teachers across buildings teach toward common, measurable outcomes. He said teams have documented learning priorities and performance indicators for grade bands (K‑2, 3‑5, 6‑8 and 9‑12) so teachers can decide which standards deserve deeper unit time and how to build coherent scope and sequences. "That clarity creates a scope of what the standard is talking about, and it creates clear learning goals for our teachers," Nazir said.

Committee members and staff contrasted the social studies review with the district's recent reading curriculum work. Members said the reading adoption (Wonders) included a major resource change; by contrast, social studies work is currently concentrated on standards analysis, prioritization and alignment before selecting instructional resources. Nazir said the district aligns curriculum reviews with any state standard updates to perform gap analyses and to determine whether a light or major curriculum overhaul is needed.

Nazir described teacher collaboration and professional development built into the process: elementary review teams include roughly 12 teachers representing the district's four elementary buildings, and 6‑12 content teams have used professional development days to apply the same UbD protocols. He told the committee the work is time‑intensive but intentional: "Sometimes doing the deep dive into standards can be grueling," he said, and he thanked teachers who volunteered for review teams.

Committee members noted evidence of prior curriculum work in classrooms during a recent site visit, citing kindergarten reading progress as an example of prior adoption payoff. Staff said the district has UbD documents across K‑12 subject areas but that the depth and completeness vary by curricular area because not every area has completed the same level of review.

The presentation was informational only; no formal action was requested or taken on the social studies review during the meeting. Staff said next steps include continuing stage‑1 analysis, identifying prioritized standards for additional grades, and using those prioritized standards to inform any future resource recommendations.

For now, the district's stated focus is on building clearer learning targets and vertical alignment so units and assessments align with prioritized standards and expectations across grades.