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District proposes Skills for Success elective, outlines curriculum review and pilot timelines
Summary
The district presented a proposal to replace a college/career exploration elective with a year‑long Skills for Success course and outlined planned curriculum review and pilot schedules for elementary and secondary social studies and secondary math adoptions.
A district staff member presented a proposal to Curriculum & Programs Committee members on April 21 to replace the existing College and Career Exploration course with a year‑long elective called Skills for Success for freshmen, sophomores and juniors.
The presenter said Skills for Success would run opposite lunch, expand college and career exploration across three grades and emphasize academic and personal skills, including critical thinking, communication, resume and portfolio development, interview practice and targeted ACT preparation for 10th and 11th graders. The presenter said the course—s FTE would be reallocated from collapsing sections and that "it—s a $0 ad," enabled by curricular partnerships with AVID and Kaplan.
Dr. Vemmer, identified in the meeting as the Assistant Director of Literacy and Interventions, described a districtwide annual review cycle for curricular resources intended to stagger adoptions so staff are not overburdened. She outlined a timeline for elementary social studies (review, pilot during 2026–27, implementation 2027–28) and said the district intends to pilot two middle‑school social studies resources and two secondary math resources in separate semesters so teachers can compare options.
For secondary math, the curriculum team said any pilot resource would need to align with the College Board framework for Pre‑AP courses, be aligned to the Common Core State Standards, include statistics, be available in Spanish and be engaging for students. The district expects vendor reviews the week following the meeting and plans teacher pilots (resource A in the fall semester, resource B in the spring) with surveys and roundtables to collect feedback for spring board recommendations.
A committee member asked what metrics the district will use to evaluate pilots. The presenter and Dr. Vemmer said the district will use an aligned rubric that includes state‑standards alignment, qualitative Likert‑style teacher feedback, classroom observations and quantitative indicators such as attendance in pilot sections and assessment data where available.
No formal action was recorded at the committee meeting on the course proposal or the pilot timelines; the presenters invited questions from committee members.
