Curriculum and Instructional Support

Michael Fenster & Bobbi Jo Erb

Middle Link is a resource for middle school educators that contains support materials for core curriculum and supplemental programs.

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"We need to prepare students for their future, not our past."
-Rich Moniuszko, Deputy Superintendent of the Fairfax County (Virginia) public schools

Common Core State Standards

The district adopted the Common Core Standards in spring 2012 and immediately began a curriculum realignment process. Parent road maps for math and language arts are now available.

RTI: Response to Instruction

The district is implementing a simple plan of continuous instruction, screening, intervention and monitoring.

Alaska Performance Scholarship

Alaska's hardest-working students can earn up to $4,755 a year. To qualify, students must take a specific, rigorous high school curriculum; earn a minimum 2.5 GPA; and do well on a college or career-readiness exam.

Culturally responsive education

Culturally responsive education recognizes, respects, and uses student identities and backgrounds to create optimal learning. Teaching methods that use references to a student’s culture help the student understand mainstream culture through a lens of recognition and acknowledgment.

SBAR: Standards-Based Assessment and Reporting

Standards-based assessment and reporting allows ASD educators to focus on the instructional process, how instruction occurs and how it can be affirmed for the student.

Teachers and students inquire about life’s essential questions through local and global collaboration using technology tools, creativity, and personal relevance. Students assess their own learning guided by teachers and mentors. Critical thinking, innovation and complex solution-finding for the 21st century are at the forefront of the quest for knowledge.