How We Teach

Standards Based Instruction and Classrooms

The Columbia Heights Educational Campus is founded on rigor, relevance, and social justice through standards based instruction and classrooms.

            The standards based classroom includes displays that guide students through the elements of the standards based curriculum.  Teachers post standards, rubrics, and exemplary student work in an effort to guide students toward work that exceeds expectations and demonstrates deep understanding of the knowledge and skills of the course.  Student bulletin boards are interactive instructional tools in the classroom that teachers and students alike reference and reflect upon in order to shape students’ understanding of course requirements throughout the year.  

Thinking with the End in Mind

            Curriculum is “designed backwards” from the standards and products students must demonstrate. Teachers communicate standards and class expectations to students at the beginning of the course complete with final and cumulative assessments including projects and exams.  A critical part of this designing backwards is the use of unit planning based on a core question. All units have one or more major assignments, which go in the portfolio, and which are assessed with a rubric. The rubric is used as a tool by students to improve their work. Students spend a lot of time on revision. All student work receives commentary by teachers.  Student projects become part of a portfolio of essential evidence of understanding in the course, the artifacts of which students must present in order to meet the requirements of the course.    

Use of Non-Instructional and Instructional Time

            Instructional time, when not with students, is spent making revisions to teacher work in order to help all students reach the standards via professional learning community structures like tuning protocols and the ATLAS protocol.  Instructional time with students is organized into a mini-lesson, work period, and closing. The greatest amount of time goes to the work period during which students complete essential performance tasks and receive timely feedback on their progress toward the standard.  The closing allows for summarization of learning, and identification of future learning.  During this time teachers use the CHEC 7, schoolwide strategies chosen for their success with diverse learners. 

Strategies across the Curriculum

research based

found to be effective with groups similar to those we teach

ensure rigor even for student with low levels of current achievement

writing across the curriculum

Grammar areas of focused correction

commitment to strategies and content to support DCCAS