East Haddam subcommittee moves draft curriculum template to administrators after Atlas overview

The East Haddam Policy & Curriculum Subcommittee heard a demonstration of the district’s Atlas-based curriculum framework and unanimously voted to turn a draft template over to building administrators and teachers for feedback.

Instructional facilitators Tina McKenzie and Kim Tol began the presentation by describing Atlas as a repository for K–12 units that shows unit title and timing, essential questions, linked state and national standards, learning outcomes, primary resources and assessments. "Atlas houses what our actual plan of adopting something [...] into East Hatam in our much broader sense of our units," one presenter said, explaining how teachers can link lesson-level materials and rubrics to each unit.

Committee members pressed staff on assessment visibility and scoring criteria, arguing the subcommittee needs access to assessment design and rubrics to meaningfully vet curriculum. The chair said the board is required by state law to establish a curriculum committee and emphasized the committee’s role in ensuring curriculum follows a clear approval process rather than leaving materials “in the head” of a departing staff member. "We do not write curriculum. We're never going to write curriculum," the chair said, adding that the committee must ensure a professional approval pattern is in place.

During a live Atlas demonstration, presenters opened a high-school unit and located attached scoring rubrics and graduation-standards links; presenters acknowledged some assessment items are in gated sections that will be included in future curriculum presentations to the committee. The chair said he wants scoring criteria and learning plans available to committee members in advance so members can do the review work effectively.

The subcommittee discussed expected rigor (learning outcomes written at Depth-of-Knowledge 3–4), the importance of planning for common student misconceptions, and including Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidance so next-in-line teachers can implement units with fidelity. Staff said that while units list weeks or lesson counts, teachers retain flexibility to resequence lessons and adjust pacing; Atlas preserves and displays those revisions for future years.

After debate about timing and scope, the chair moved to "turn the template temporarily over to the admin and teachers and get feedback from Dr. Drio afterwards." A motion was made and seconded; the chair called the vote and recorded it as unanimous. The committee indicated it will reconvene or use a short remote meeting to finalize the template after administrators’ input.

The committee plans to return to the subcommittee with an updated template and sample units for formal presentation and eventual board approval.