Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Curriculum topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
New curriculum structure and professional‑learning plans outlined by district curriculum director
Summary
The district’s new director of curriculum, instruction and assessment described a multi‑tiered leadership structure, professional learning priorities, early literacy pilots and alignment to New York State’s Portrait of a Graduate and INSPIRES initiatives.
Dr. Josh Deutch, the district’s director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, presented the district’s curricular priorities and organizational approach at the April 7 board meeting, describing a three‑layer structure (core curriculum leadership team, instructional leadership team and a broader curriculum council) intended to coordinate work across elementary, middle and high school levels.
Deutch emphasized professional learning and collaborative teacher leadership as key levers, saying “the best teachers are the best learners” and describing a recent superintendents’ conference day that paired teachers in cross‑building learning sessions. He described current pilots and adoptions: a multi‑year in‑house writing program at Bedford Road School, a first‑year reading‑fundamentals implementation and a planned rollout of National Geographic social‑studies materials for grades 5–8. The district has also introduced Project Lead the Way courses in technology and engineering, with completion of rollout into lower middle‑school grades next year.
Deutch discussed curriculum mapping and a focus on cross‑subject strands (disciplinary knowledge, inquiry, reasoning, practice and purpose) that align to the New York Portrait of a Graduate, and said the district plans to use those strands to set priorities, design professional learning and guide performance‑based assessments in response to state guidance.
He said the work is early and iterative: the larger curriculum council is still being formed, and the district will use teacher leaders, surveys, student data and listening sessions to refine priorities and communicate changes to staff. The superintendent said strategic‑planning work will begin immediately and that curriculum council formation will be included in ongoing superintendent reports.
Next steps: Deutch said the district will convene curriculum council meetings and sample pilot units at the middle school; the district will continue professional‑development work tied to device rollouts and planned curriculum review cycles.
