Welcome to the Curriculum and Instruction portion of the Upper Perkiomen School District website.

We believe all students can learn, and it is our duty to ensure that all students do learn. We accomplish this by developing a comprehensive, integrated approach that provides system-wide support to schools, families, and the community.

The Upper Perkiomen School District has a history of commitment to excellence in education. The Board of Education and district citizens have endorsed this commitment by supporting the development, implementation and evaluation of the curriculum and the instructional program. Administrators and staff members have worked together to design and implement instructional programs which will meet the many and diverse needs of students from pre-kindergarten through grade twelve. While there are many reasons to be proud of the district’s instructional program, excellence demands a dedication to continuing evaluation and improvement.

Essentially curriculum is what we want student to know, do and understand.  We capture this using a model called "Understanding by Design" by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTigue.  A three stage process is used to articulate student expectations according to state standards by grade/course level. 

Stage 1 - What do we want students to know, do, and understand?
This stage provides an overview of the goals and the expected length of teaching time set aside for this topic. It also identifies the specific learning standards that will be addressed through our teaching over the course of this particular Unit of Study. Lastly, Stage 1 identifies Enduring Understandings (the big ideas of the unit/topic) and includes Essential Questions that will guide student discourse through the Unit. 

Stage 2 - How will we know they learned it? Teachers craft both formative and summative methods of assessing the learning. Educators recognize that the question is not whether something was taught but rather whether something was learned that is the important question to answer. Ideally, students are provided with multiples ways to provide evidence of learning.  

Stage 3 - What are the planned learning activities to support students in their demonstration of skills and content? Additional considerations:  How will we support struggling and advanced learners?
This is where teachers plan the learning experiences that will achieve the expected outcomes. Teachers share collaborative resources (print and digital) for their instructional planning and create opportunities for differentiated instruction within the Unit of Study.

The Upper Perkiomen school community understands that curricula needs to be coordinated across classrooms and grade levels K-12, to avoid gaps and overlaps and to ensure that our work is aligned to content standards/outcomes and district goals. Curriculum in the Upper Perkiomen Schools is guided by pillars of the District Strategic Plan.