Academically Excellent Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

Academically excellent curriculum, instruction, and assessment are not out of reach for today’s middle schools. Integral to academically excellent curriculum, instruction, and assessment are teachers, students, content/standards, and school/community. When teachers reflect on their philosophy and values, examine their teaching style and preferences, consider their personality traits, and use this information when developing and delivering curriculum, instruction, and assessment, then academic excellence occurs. When professional judgment is used to make sound decisions regarding how to respect and address the cultural contexts, personal knowledge, and voices of each and every student in curriculum, instruction, and assessment, then academic excellence occurs. When school and district-level, state-mandated, and professional association standards are analyzed for clarity and purpose and developmentally appropriate content is identified, then academic excellence occurs. When the school (e.g., students, teachers, administrators, staff, parents) is true to its vision and mission, when the community (e.g., young and elderly, advantaged and disadvantaged) develops a sense of place, and when the school and the community work together for the betterment of each other, then academic excellence occurs.