Age group, grade levels and specific types of students TECC shall serve all students in grades 5-12 of all proficiency levels, including gifted, “at risk” English Language Learners and students with special needs.
TECC's educational philosophies, vision and values are nontraditional, yet have been found effective. The desired results will be identified, acceptable evidence determined and from this will come the planning of learning experiences and instruction. When analysis indicates thatl learning goals have been met, then, the curriculum has quality.
Core Subject Courses shall be aligned by grade level aligned with standards and GLEs. However, students are encouraged to study above their grade levels if they have demonstrated proficiency to do so and have permission from certified teachers and their parents.
Individualized Learning Contracts (ILCs) shall include specific learning goals as differentiated by readiness through assessments and student interests and learning styles. Parents, teachers and students collaboratively design and agree to ILCs that not only contain specific individual learning goals, but also include students’ nation-state assignments, schedules, interests, learning style surveys, and college plans.
ILC designs shall be driven and refined by authentic student assessments and demonstrations of their learning, MAP testing and SBAs. ILCs, shall contain not only summative assessment data, but also student demonstrations of learning saved in portfolios. Student ILCs and Portfolios shall be saved in binders or digital portfolios – one for each student and then carried forward as students progress through grade levels. This will allow for a demonstration of learning over time that is typically not available to teachers in traditional schools.
Student progress shall be measured against the outlined learning goals in ILCs and discussed in quarterly family conferences with certified advisors. Teachers will look at not only individual student learning goals, but also identify students with similar goals and differentiate instruction in the classrooms to reinforce identified learning goals.
Core subject courses and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) and Integrated Humanities Intensives may be delivered face-to-face in the school facility, through virtual courses or in our community year round by offering Summer Intensives. The school ‘s curriculum, assessments and learning activities shall be designed directly from Alaska Performance & Content Standards, Grade Level Equivalencies andemphasize gaining 21st Century technology skills.
STEM and Humanities Projects and Intensives shall be supervised by certified staff and may be delivered in partnership with higher education institutions, other schools, global organizations and local professionals and organizations.
STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Math) Intensives will be designed in alignment with Alaska Performance and Content Standards and Grade Level Equivalencies (GLEs) and then implemented in collaboration with professional scientists, computer programmers, engineers and mathematicians and other experts from respective fields. Partnering with STEM Coalition Members, regionally accredited colleges and universities and health and other professionals is an important goal in the implementation of STEM Intensives. National Health Standards shall also be incorporated into STEM Intensives.
Integrated Humanities Intensives will be designed in alignment with Alaska Performance and Content Standards and Grade Level Equivalencies (GLEs) and then implemented in collaboration with professionals in the following fields, but not limited to; music, dance, art, sculpture, gymnastics, philosophy, political science, history, geography, anthropology and international studies.
TECC will organize its own United Nations Simulations; all students will be required to participate. Each year’s United Nations Simulation shall have a new topic that is aligned with UAA, Dept. of Political Science hosted Model UN of Alaska. Student Delegates will debate in UN simulated committees and in the UN General Assembly Conference held annually. Prior to TECC annual UN Simulation, students will be encouraged to participate in the UAA, Department of Political Science, hosted “MUN of Alaska” during February of each year. http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/modelun/
United Nations Simulations will serve as an umbrella under which Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) and Integrated Humanities topics are delivered. UN Simulations shall require student delegates to research, write, present and debate Resolutions from the perspective of their assigned nation-state. Each year’s UN Simulation topic will provide a school wide theme. Each students Individualized Learning Contract shall contain their annual nation-state assignment.
UN Simulations Alaska Performance & Content Standards will guide the design of units preparing student delegates to participate in school wide UN Simulations. Each year’s UN Simulation topics will be aligned with the UAA, Model UN of Alaska topic. Each student will be assigned a nation-state in which to serve as a student delegate for the entire year as a component of his/her ILC. Students will research and make presentations on the history, geography, economy, politics, and culture of their assigned nation-state as related to the annual UN Simulation topic. Student Delegates will role play and write Position Papers and Resolutions, make presentations, debate & caucus from the perspective of their nation-states within their assigned committees. Grade levels will determine the various UN Committees as follows:
| Grade Level | UN Simulation Committee or Secretariat |
| Seniors | Student Directors in Secretariat |
| Juniors | Security Council Co-delegates |
| Sophomores | UNESCO |
| Freshman | Topic specific Committee |
| 8th Grade | Topic specific Committee |
| 7th Grade | Topic specific Committee |
| 6th Grade | Topic specific Committee |
| 5th Grade | Topic specific Committee |
Virtual School within a School Some courses will be web delivered courses using “elluminate” or similar facilities. “elluminate Academic Version is a real-time e-learning solution and collaboration solution software program. http://www.elluminate.com/ (or similar facility) “elluminate” features an audio interface, texting , multiple choice quiz component, a web delivered whiteboard and more. Online courses may also utilize “Moodle“ in order to supplement courses and allow for active parental involvement from home. Each teacher will provide student and parental access to assignments online as appropriate. Students who are proficient and above in core subjects may be authorized to participate our virtual ‘school within a school’ from home as authorized by both Certified Advisers and Parent/Guardians. This option must be specified in students’ Individualized Learning Contracts to be valid.
Real-world service-learning projects will be designed and implemented and will highlight student voices, research, reflection and public presentations demonstrating student learning. Along with major core courses, integrated service-learning projects may be facilitated, including such disciplines, but not limited to: the arts, digital arts, math and computer language programming including open source and web based languages , integrated math, audio/video recording and production, environmental studies, reading, writing, public speaking, literature, musicianship, philosophy, logic, psychology, the sciences, social sciences, PE, health and theater.
Our students will participate in the Global Youth Service Day (GYSD). This the largest annual celebration of young volunteers, where millions of young people in countries everywhere highlight and carry out thousands of community improvement projects. GYSD offers a way for local, national, and international organizations to; 1) Build the capacity of an international network of organizations that promotes youth participation, service, and learning; 2) Educate the public, the media, and policy-makers about the year-round contributions of young people as community leaders around the world; 3) Educate mobilize youth and adults to meet the needs of their communities through volunteering; and 4) Learn and share effective practices in youth service, youth voice, and civic engagement in the world today. www.gysd.net/home/index.html
The social aspects of dancing are attributed to cultural awareness and positive mental health benefits, therefore, students may be introduced to Ballroom Dancing and other ethnic dances. It is a fun way to get both a cardiovascular workout and target large and small muscle groups. Dancers burn calories, make friends and challenge their minds. Dancing presents mental challenges to students, namely; moving to the rhythm of the music and practicing complex dance steps.
Our curriculum, and its assessment data are proposed to drive curriculum refinement and incorporate teacher professional development - encouraging learning for all, in an interactive learning community that utilizes 21st Century technical skills and promotes civic engagement.
Students may study more rigorous courses taught by adjunct or off campus instructors. Adjunct Instructors will be required to have a minimum of (1) Bachelor’s Degree in content area or related field, (2) Professional Service Contracts approved by our district central office and (3) “Interested Persons Report” from the State Troopers on file at the school and central office and collaborate with certified teachers.
Students may collaboratively design independent study courses with their Certified Advisors and parents.
Teachers shall design differentiated units and their assessments first and then craft learning activities for their students. In Teachers Circles, Alaska Performance & Content Standards, GLES, Standards Based Assessments, our Independent Academic Policy Handbook and related resources will be utilized to collaborate, design and refine learning opportunities for our students.
Alaska Performance & Content Standards and Grade level Equivalencies are the very foundation of TECC curriculum. Textbooks or sections of textbooks may be selected to provide content to support the enduring understandings and essential questions of units, lesson plans and projects deliberately designed to work toward meeting specific standards or Grade Level Equivalencies (GLEs). Understanding by Design (UbD) strategies that simultaneously address specific learning goals and student assessment of those learning goals will be used. It is then, in the next phase of UbD designed units that direct teaching and learning activities are created using various curricula, trade books, Internet resources and hands-on active learning lessons to support the ‘big ideas’ specified in unit goals that based on standards and GLEs.
Teachers are proposed to be designers; the key element of what they will do is craft curriculum and learning experiences to meet the specific learning goals as set out in the standards and GLEs. Teachers will design authentic assessments to diagnose students’ needs in order differentiated instruction. Good design is not about teachers gaining technical unit building skills so much, as it is about learning to be thoughtful and specific about our purposes and what we as teachers imply. The focus is on the desired learning from standards, not the textbooks used. (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005)
Mindful designed curriculum will include specific plans with big ideas or concepts they are based upon. An example to consider would be difference between a lesson designed to virtually visit major sights in a foreign country. The lesson might instead be designed around the idea of specific cultural goals, allowing students to make more connections. Students need to be prompted to grasp why and how the purposes of their learning should influence their studying. TECC’s instructional goal is not to just throw content and activities against the wall and hope some stick, but rather to use an approach that is deliberately designed to meet very specific learning objectives stemming directly from the standards.
Charter Bylaws outline a systematic plan to monitor curriculum implementation and quality through data driven by analysis in Teachers’ Circles, APC Parent & Teacher Sub Committees by grade level groupings (5-6th, 7-8th, 9-10th, and 11-12th), APC Directors, and the APC General Assembly. Refinement to instructional programs shall be made by collaborative development of written Resolutions that are debated, amended and adopted in public meetings of APC Directors and APC General Assembly.Curriculum quality monitoring and refinement shall be grounded by professional development. TECC’s plans to monitor curriculum implementation and quality comes in multiple forms and shall be grounded by professional development and its assessment from outside sources and then followed up in Teacher’s Circle discussions and subsequent planning for implementation. Professional development topics may include but are not limited to; RTI Response to Intervention, TECC’s SST Team for students identified with learning disabilities, content areas, UN Simulation Organization, Rules & Procedures, Differentiated Instruction, Understanding by Design techniques, research from neuroscience and psychology on how the brain learns and strategies to create mindful classrooms such as "thinking routines" from the research at Harvard Graduate School of Education's Project Zero that encourage higher order thinking routines across disciplines. Using multiple forms of assessments to differentiate instruction and meet the needs of students specifically is key to the refinement of the curriculum.
In addition, Teachers Circles will read and discuss books and resources on these strategies and refine their instruction using what they have learned and student assessment data to make refinements. APC Parent and Teacher Sub Committees will debate and amend resolutions and make recommendations for new professional development and improved curricular implementation and quality refinements. These recommended Resolutions will be further debated, amended and adopted by APC Directors and/or APC General Assembly.
14.28 The Understanding by Design(UbD) framework is guided by research from cognitive psychology. A readable synthesis of these findings is compiled in the book How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2002) A recent publication of the National Research Council that summarizes the past 30 years of research in learning and cognition. The book offers new conceptions of the learning process and explains how skill and understanding in key subjects are most effectively acquired. Insights from the research are clustered into five areas: (1) memory and structure of knowledge, (2) analysis of problem solving and reasoning, (3) early foundations, (4) metacognitive processes and self-regulatory capabilities, and (5) cultural experience and community participation.Key findings relevant to Understanding by Design include the following:
(McTighe &Seif 2003)
There has long been a concern in the mathematics-education community that students’ instruction go beyond the basic development of skills and knowledge to cultivate an understanding of mathematical concepts and cultivate students’ ability to reason and think mathematically (NCTM, 1980; NCTM, 1989). The justification for this position rests on the awareness that without understanding knowledge and skills are often inert and compartmentalized, leading to inappropriate or inexpert application (Gardner, 1991). Likewise, without the ability to think and reason, it is impossible to create new knowledge and engage in effective problem solving (Perkins & Salomon, 1987).
However, the ability to reason, think, and understand also have limitations when it comes to performance. Ability in and of itself does not necessarily imply action. There must be the disposition to use those abilities as well as a sensitivity to and awareness of occasions for that ability’s use (Perkins, Jay, & Tishman, 1993). To avoid such an ability-action gap, instruction must extend beyond the cultivation of skills, knowledge, and understanding to the enculturation of a disposition toward thinking and of awareness. In short, classrooms must strive to be “mindful” places in which students can become wise, not just smart. (Ritchhart, 2000)
Mindfulness. How should mindfulness be understood? Three views are considered. The first is that mindfulness should be understood as a cognitive ability. According to this view, people differ in their capacity to think in a mindful way, much as people differ in memory or intelligence. The second view is of mindfulness as a personality trait. According to this view, mindfulness is a stable disposition, much as would be extraversion or neuroticism. The third view is of mindfulness as a cognitive style. According to this view, mindfulness represents a preferred way of thinking. Mindfulness has characteristics of all three but seems closest to being a cognitive style. Construct validation is needed in order to address this and related questions. (Sternberg, 2000) (Langer (1989) describes mindfulness as a facilitative state that promotes increased creativity, flexibility, and use of information, as well as memory and retention. It is characterized by an increased recognition of possibilities and formation of new categories, openness to new information, and an awareness of more than one perspective. According to the theory, mindfulness results from drawing novel distinctions, exploring new perspectives, and being sensitive to context while mindlessness is fostered through the premature formation of fixed mindsets, overgeneralizations, automaticity and acting from a single perspective. (Ritchhart 2000)
Mindfulness as an enduring trait is a worthwhile and achievable goal of education. While experiments often focus on the promotion of mindfulness as a temporary state, Ritchhart and Perkins (2000) argue that the cultivation of mindfulness as an enduring trait is a worthwhile and achievable goal of education. However, the accomplishment of such a goal requires educators to challenge many of the norms of schooling, including traditional conceptions of what it means to be smart and do well in school. Rather than focusing on developing ability, education for mindfulness is more dispositional. This means that in addition to developing students’ abilities, such as the ability to consider multiple perspectives, educators must also seek to nurture students’ inclination’ to engage that ability and a sensitivity to occasions for the appropriate deployment of that ability. This model of education is more about enculturation in a set of norms and patterns of thinking than the dispensing of knowledge and training of skills (Perkins et al., 1993).
How can ambiguity serve learning? A study by Langer and Piper (1987) introduced the idea of "conditional," as opposed to absolute, instruction. In this form of instruction, participants encounter information in an open rather than absolute format, for example, by saying that this "could be" a dog's chew toy or this "may be" the cause of the evolution of city neighborhoods. In these studies, participants demonstrated equal retention of information but more flexibility and creativity in using that information to solve problems (Langer, Hatem, J055, & Howell, 1989; Langer & Piper, 1987). When ambiguity is introduced in this way, the learner is prompted to shift from a passive to an active role. The student becomes engaged not in memorizing information but in making sense of the situation. As the student takes charge to fill in the gaps, the student's authority and autonomy as a learner are strengthened. In the process of making sense, alternatives get explored because the learner isn't just striving for a correct answer but rather building a series of connections and abstractions that will facilitate later transfer to new situations (Salomon & Perkins, 1989). When learners take a single correct answer as the goal, they are likely to narrow quickly their examination of possibilities, resulting in less flexible use of their knowledge (Langer & Piper, 1987).