Curriculum & Instruction – Background Information / Documents
District Curriculum:
- Monte Vista Curriculum – The district began writing the academic curriculum over the 2017/2018 school year. As of the 2024/2025 school year, the district has successfully completed curriculum writing for Math, Science, ELA, and Social Studies. Each year a different content will receive a more in-depth review to make adjustments and re-evaluate the programs being used to determine if changes need to be made.
- Curriculum Development – All curriculum is developed and facilitated by our curriculum director and/or instructional coaches. The development team consists of all secondary teachers in the content area and one grade level teacher at the elementary grades k-5. This is a very intense process and is very goal oriented. The goal, by the end of development the k-12 curriculum will be vertically aligned and will serve as a quality resource to help support MVSD students in meeting Colorado Content Standards.
- The curriculum components include a grade level scope and sequence, a progression of skills, and curriculum unit guides. The curriculum is aligned to the most current standards and includes 21st century skills. There is also a section for parent resources that includes information and videos to support parent and community understanding.
- The content teams review and adjust the scope and sequence as well as unit guides as needed at the end of each school year as needed.
- Elementary Curriculum – Into Reading, Lindamood Bell (Seeing Stars, Visualizing/Verbalizing), Big Ideas Math, Mystery Science, Colorado Story (4th grade SS)
- K-3 Literacy programs are on the approved READ Act List provided by CDE.
- Video from a Bill Metz collaboration with Lindamood Bell
- Leaders in Literacy webinar – Elementary instructional coach shares comprehension strategies
- Secondary Curriculum – Big Ideas Math, MidSchool Math (6th-8th), Inspire Science & AP Biology from Pearson (HS), Khan Academy, APEX, McGraw Hill Impact Social Studies
- All curriculum resources are available on the school district website. Each content contains a section for background, staff resources, and parent resources.
- Teachers use the district single sign-on to access curriculum materials for Big Ideas Math, Into Reading, McGraw Hill, etc.
- Students access the curriculum documents in the same manner, which creates an easy transition between in-person and remote learning.
Instructional Planning and Practice:
Common Instructional Approach: Objective-Driven Instruction with Success Criteria
Purpose:
To ensure all students have a clear understanding of what they are learning, why it matters, and how to demonstrate their success through consistent, transparent instructional planning and delivery.
Framework:
- 1. Learning Objective
Definition: A clear, standards-aligned statement that articulates what students should know, understand, or be able to do by the end of the lesson.
Teacher Action:
Begin planning with the end in mind by identifying the essential standard(s).
Write the objective in student-friendly language.
Student Action:
Refer to the objective throughout the lesson to understand the focus of learning. - 2. Success Criteria
Definition: Specific, measurable indicators that clarify what success looks like in relation to the learning objective.
Teacher Action:
Co-construct or present criteria that describe the components of high-quality work or performance.
Provide examples or models when appropriate.
Student Action:
Use the criteria to self-assess and guide their learning during and after instruction. - 3. Lesson Design and Instructional Sequence
Launch:
Introduce the objective and success criteria at the beginning of the lesson.
Connect to prior learning and explain relevance.
Model:
Demonstrate thinking or processes using “think-alouds.”
Annotate or deconstruct an exemplar aligned to the success criteria.
Guided Practice:
Students practice with teacher support, referencing success criteria.
Use checks for understanding and clarify misconceptions.
Independent Practice:
Students apply learning independently using success criteria to self-monitor.
Closure & Reflection:
Revisit objective and success criteria.
Engage students in self-assessment, reflection, or peer feedback. - 4. Formative Assessment and Feedback
Teacher Action:
Collect evidence of learning during the lesson (e.g., exit slips, observations).
Provide feedback aligned to success criteria.
Student Action:
Reflect on progress and use feedback to adjust and improve.
Implementation Tips:
Post objectives and success criteria visually in the classroom.
Use consistent sentence stems (e.g., “I will learn to…” and “I will know I’m successful when…”).
Embed student discussion and peer feedback tied to criteria.
Align success criteria to assessment rubrics for coherence.
District MTSS Approach:
- MTSS Communication Plan
- READ Act – Identifying K-3 students with significant reading deficiencies:
- All K-3 students are screened using the Amira assessment at the start of each year then monitored monthly with the same tool. This data is utilized to create READ plans and/or RtI plans as well as put interventions in place to support student needs.
Resources/Programs available to students before, during and after school for intervention and enrichment
- At the elementary level, science fair is an extracurricular activity and is a great way for students to enrich their education through project based learning. Another valuable activity offered is student council.
- Monte Vista Middle School and High Schools provide a wide variety of extra curricular activities including clubs, sports, etc.
ICAP Approach:
- The high school BLT will revise scoring rubrics for capstone projects and internship completion rubrics. We intend to integrate I-CAP [Individual Career and Academic Plan] and develop a plan for monitoring progress in grades 6-12 as well as revamp the current ICAP program to align it to be more relevant to an AEC.
- Senior Seminar
Data Management:
- Assessment data is housed and accessible to district staff in Otus. Teachers can also access data through the various assessment platforms such as NWEA, Amira, I-Ready, TS Gold, IXL, and PSAT/SAT.
- Otus also houses READ plans, RtI plans, Advanced Learning Plans, and 504’s..
- Preschool and Kindergarten use TS Gold as their observational assessment tool. Kindergarten also uses iStation and Into Reading for reading as well as Big Ideas and I-Ready for math.
- Elementary uses three main assessment tools: NWEA, Amira (reading), and I-Ready (math). NWEA is taken three times a year while Amira and I-Ready have beginning/mid/end of year benchmarks as well as monthly progress monitoring. The elementary has implemented three-week data cycles for both math and ELA.
- The middle and high school use NWEA for beginning, middle, and end of the year benchmarks. The middle school is also using IXL to provide intervention and progress monitoring.
- Depending upon the grade level and subject matter data reports are used during common team planning times, or common content planning times. Additional data review and planning is conducted during specified quarterly ‘Data Days’ four times throughout the year.
Behavioral Expectations:
- Our district uses PBIS and components of Capturing Kids Hearts to teach student behavior. All buildings have behavior matrixes and all classrooms create social contracts.
- Marsh and Bill Metz elementary have 15 minutes of daily SEL instruction built into the master schedule. All grades K-5 begin their day with a ‘circle’ to share good things and set expectations for the day.
- The middle school has built in Restorative Practices for all students into the daily schedule. This time is dedicated to social/emotional learning and proactive circles.
- Restorative Justice is used universally to build community and create safe places for student problem solving and relationship building. All teachers utilize classroom ‘circles.’