Embedded Files
Diocese of Charleston Academic Standards and Curriculum
Diocese of Charleston Academic Standards and Curriculum
Catholic schools in the Diocese of Charleston provide meaningful, engaging learning experiences and faith formation through relevant and rigorous curriculum. All curriculum developed in the Diocese is based on competitive standards, as well as current curricular research, the needs of our students, and draws on the expertise of our teachers and administrators. Teachers and school administrators from across the Diocese come together to review, update, and restructure the academically rigorous standards of one subject each year. These standards serve as expectations for all students in the Diocese of Charleston so they are prepared for college, career, and life. From these standards, curriculum guides were created which are infused with the faith and outline key concepts, clarifying questions, and differentiated instruction. Each school in the Diocese is unique and tailors the curriculum, “how the students are taught,” based on the individual needs of the school/ students.
The Curriculum focuses both on content (what the students should know) and on practices and skills (what the students should be able to do). Therefore, a broad range of research based instructional strategies should be used when designing units and lessons to help students achieve the outcomes.
The emphasis of the Curriculum is on depth of understanding and using knowledge in a meaningful way, not breadth of coverage. Students are expected to thoroughly know and be able to use the concepts, practices, and skills across multiple contexts.
The Diocesan Curriculum is intended to set rigorous guidelines on what all students should know and be able to do. Individual teachers are encouraged to use their expertise and professional judgment to determine the level to go beyond these expectations or adjust instruction in response to the learning needs and capabilities of their students.
Each Curriculum and Instruction guide provides suggestions for meeting the needs of diverse learners such as ELL students, special education students, and those students who are not finding success at the Tier I level.
The Diocesan Curriculum is designed to work best when teachers work collaboratively and use a unit-planning approach to plan their instruction for the year.
Through the curriculum development process, the following National Catholic Standards and Benchmarks for Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools (NSBECS) are used to ensure our curriculum is faith infused and focuses on the mission of our Catholic Schools:
7.1 The curriculum adheres to appropriate, delineated standards, and is vertically aligned to ensure that every student successfully completes a rigorous and coherent sequence of academic courses based on the standards and rooted in Catholic values.
7.2 Standards are adopted across the curriculum, and include integration of the religious, spiritual, moral, and ethical dimensions of learning in all subjects.
7.3 Curriculum and instruction for 21st century learning provide students with the knowledge, understanding and skills to become creative, reflective, literate, critical, and moral evaluators, problem solvers, decision makers, and socially responsible global citizens.
7.4 Curriculum and instruction for 21st century learning prepares students to become expert users of technology, able to create, publish, and critique digital products that reflect their understanding of the content and their technological skills.
Diocese of Charleston Cyclical Curriculum Development Timeline:
2021-22 English Language Arts
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), adopted
International Society for Technology in Education Standards (ISTE), adopted
2022-23 Math
2023-24 Social Studies, Co-Curricular Subjects (Language, Art, Music)
2024-25 Science and Technology
Page updated
Report abuse