Elementary Curriculum

Community Resources for Elementary Curriculum

  • District Equity Policy

    Priority Standards

    The term Priority Standard refers to a subset of learning standards that educators have determined to be the highest priority or most important for students to learn. Priority Standards were selected from the Kansas College and Career Ready Standards for English Language Arts at the district level by curriculum leaders and teacher leadership committees. Other standards become Supporting Standards and "these become the instructional scaffolds to help students understand and attain the more rigorous and comprehensive Priority Standards".

    Choosing Priority Standards using the R.E.A.L. criteria

    Larry Ainsworth on Priority Standards

    Kansas Assessment Program information for Families

    The Kansas Assessment Program (KAP), a program of the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE), fulfills a mandate from the Kansas Legislature. KAP provides general education assessments, alternate assessments, career and technical education assessments, and an English language proficiency assessment. Each year, students in grades 3-8 and grade 10 are assessed in English language arts and Mathematics. A science assessment is provided in grades 5, 8, and 11.

     Common Formative Assessments (Larry Ainsworth)

    • Aligned pre- and post-assessments within units of study
    • Collaboratively designed by a grade-level or course-level team
    • Administered to students by each participating teacher throughout school year
    • Assess student understanding of unit learning intentions (derived from selected standards)
    • Questions directly match levels of cognitive rigor of unit learning intentions
    • Success criteria explicitly describe what students are to include in their responses
    • Valuable feedback shows what students currently know and still need to learn
    • Provide a clear lens through which teachers see their instructional impact on student learning

     District Common Assessments - These are given to students in grades three through twelve.

    • Align with Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), formative assessment work (Common Formative Assessments)
    • Align with the year-end Kansas State Assessments
    • Measure mastery of standards
    • Inform instructional adjustments

Teacher Resources for Elementary Curriculum