Curriculum Guides

Rigorous Curriculum as defined in Rigorous Curriculum Design

"A rigorous curriculum is an inclusive set of intentionally aligned components--clear learning outcomes with matching assessments, engaging learning experiences, and instructional strategies--organized into sequenced units of study that serve as both the detailed road map and the high-quality delivery system for ensuring that all students achieve the desired end: the attainment of their designated grade- or course-specific standards within a particular content area."

Additional Definitions

"A rigorous curriculum must keep students at the center of the its design."

"The high-quality delivery system for ensuring that all students achieve the desired end--the attainment of their designated grade- or course-specific standards."

"...the intentional alignment between standards, instruction, and assessment."

"...the intentional inclusion of and alignment between all necessary components within that curriculum."

"To design a comprehensive curriculum that intentionally aligns standards, formal and informal assessment, engaging student learning experiences, related instruction that includes a variety of strategies, higher-order thinking skills, 21st-century life skills, data analysis, and so on, is to indeed design a rigorous curriculum."

"A rigorous curriculum must remain flexible, adaptable to the diverse and continuously changing learning needs of all the students it serves."