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District rolls out '7 C' lesson-design framework and district chatbot to align curriculum
Summary
Dr. Herrera presented a multi-year curriculum-alignment initiative that introduced a district-developed lesson-design model (the '7 C's') and a prototype district chatbot 'Gemma' to generate lesson plans; the board discussed rollout timelines, UDL integration, and EL supports.
Dr. Herrera told the board that the district's curriculum-alignment work began in 2022 with an equity study by Orenda and has progressed through phased alignment of ELA and math, then additional science and history courses. "We started this journey in 2022 where Mister Garcia and team asked Orenda to come and do an equity study," Dr. Herrera said, describing phase work across 2023–25 and the 2024–25 school year.
The presentation introduced a district-created lesson-design model developed by instructional coaches and framed as the "7 C's": Construct, Consider, Captivate, Chunk, Connect, Check, and Carry. Dr. Herrera explained that the model focuses on designing lessons for learner variability and building "high impact, low prep" strategies to help teachers. She also described training materials, a learner-variability checklist, sample hooks and prompts, modeling sessions by peer coaches, and iterative revisions based on teacher feedback. "So what is that lesson design and why does it matter? It matters because we know that not all instruction is created equal," she said.
The presentation also highlighted a district-built chatbot called Gemma, which instructional staff can prompt with a standard and receive a seven-seas–themed lesson plan template. Dr. Herrera said the goal is to train all teachers in the framework, aiming to complete initial rollout by the end of the next school year; she acknowledged capacity constraints and said the plan relies on cohorts and instructional coaches to sustain cohesion. Trustees asked about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and English Learner (EL) supports; Dr. Herrera said UDL practices were incorporated into the 'Consider' section and the lesson template includes explicit EL guidance.
Trustees did not vote on this agenda item; the presentation was informational and staff said they would share names of instructional coaches and a fuller rollout timeline with the board.
