FCPS staff to forward state-aligned standards and three new courses to full board after CNI consensus

Curriculum staff told the Frederick County Public Schools Curriculum, Instruction and (CNI) committee that new, granular standards released by the Maryland State Department of Education will form FCPS's "essential curriculum," which the local board must adopt under board policy 500. The packet includes links to state standards and a backup document that staff asked the committee to forward to the full board for consideration.

Staff described the process: the state provides grade‑level standards and lists of approved HQIM and publishers; the district reviews and selects HQIM, then local teams create companion documents, pacing guides, professional learning and supplemental resources for teachers. "When we say we're asking you to approve curriculum, it's really not all this stuff. It's really the local adoption of those state standards that then drives everything else," a staff presenter said.

This year staff proposed three new courses for board consideration: an Advanced Placement Seminar course (configured as an English 10 pathway for early AP access) and integrated Algebra 1 and integrated Algebra 2 course sequences planned for implementation in 2027–28. Staff said selections of HQIM and course adoptions will drive subsequent purchases and teacher training schedules.

Committee members pressed staff on costs and staff time required to implement new curricula. One committee member asked whether the district has a comprehensive calculation of rollout cost (man‑hours, teacher writing time, professional learning, consumables). Staff said the district has not compiled a single, holistic job‑cost total but provided a publisher ballpark for consumable contracts: "I'll just ballpark estimate... the starting price is usually around $1 or $2 million for, let's say, five years," a staff member said, noting that renewals are due in FY28.

Supervisors cited early data on HQIM impact: the district reported an 8‑percentage‑point increase in English 10 proficiency on the winter MCAP after HQIM implementation, compared with a 2% statewide gain, which staff attributed to a shared high‑quality resource base and targeted professional learning. "Having high quality instructional materials takes away their cognitive load," said Liz, supervisor of secondary literacy, describing teacher feedback and winter assessment gains.

Staff asked the CNI committee for consensus to forward the backup document summarizing new ELA, math and social studies standards and the three proposed courses to the full board; committee members signaled support and acknowledged limited local discretion when standards and assessments come from the state. The committee scheduled a follow‑up CNI meeting focused on multilingual education and interventions.