Curriculum Indicator 1 The curriculum is purposefully designed to ensure that all students practice and achieve each of the

school's 21st century learning expectations.

The York High School curriculum has been guided by a commitment to the concise philosophy of Personalization, Academic Rigor, and Success for Every Student for the past six years. The development of core values and 21st century learning expectations, has changed the approach to curriculum review and development by requiring the staff to reexamine how YHS curriculum aligns with YHS philosophy. The philosophy has shaped Yorks school environment as we have defined our curriculum. Our core values of Integrity, Perseverance, Responsibility, Citizenship, Moral Courage, and Respect are a natural outgrowth of our existing philosophy. Before the NEASC process began, YHS was working to shape our curriculum and overall school environment to reflect our philosophy through multiple processes including curriculum templates, syllabi, and academic support models (such as the algebra and English support classes, as well as math labs). The 21st century learning expectations of the YHS curriculum are found throughout the curriculum. According to a staff survey, most of the 21st century learning expectations were being taught before they were specifically identified through the NEASC process. Since the adoption of the 21st century skills and school-wide rubrics there has been a dramatic increase in curricular emphasis in the areas of identified listening skills, written skills, and technological communication. The YHS 21st century learning expectations include academic and civic components. At the core of the academic component is a focus on higher order thinking and overall communication. This is supported by instruction in effective organizational skills and productive study habits. The social and civic expectations underpin the YHS curriculum and guide it to create students who are respectful, responsible, and ethical citizens. The curriculum helps students develop the skills and knowledge to pursue a healthy and independent
1

Curriculum lifestyle, and ultimately have a plan in place for the future when they leave YHS. The addressing of curriculum needs and changes germinates with the York High School Leadership Team. The Leadership Team guides the school through curricular, social, and organizational concerns with one eye on the philosophy of YHS. The broad philosophical framework for curricular and other initiatives is identified by the Leadership Team and groups, such as the cluster leader/curriculum review team go to work on the mechanics of carrying it out. In addition to cluster level and building level curriculum review, YHS also participates in review on the district level through the content area K-12 teams. This promotes vertical articulation of the curriculum and promotes a consistent educational experience for students in all schools. Indicator 2 The curriculum is written in a common format that includes: * units of study with essential questions, concepts, content, and skills * the schools 21st century learning expectations, * instructional strategies * assessment practices that include the use of school-wide analytic and course-specific rubrics. York High Schools curriculum, which has been under constant revision for the last six years has been written in a common format. YHS plans to revise the syllabi to include alignment with the newly adopted 21st Century learning expectations. York High School began the process of description and development of the curriculum six years ago with a curriculum template process. This laid the foundation for the state mandated creation of course syllabi overseen by the York School District Curriculum Coordinator and aligned with the Maine Learning Results. School-wide rubrics have been developed and are being piloted by the YHS staff. These rubrics come from the 21st Century learning expectations. Use of these rubrics brings those expectations directly into the curriculum of YHS. The long-held values of the YHS community are mirrored by the 21st

Curriculum century learning expectations. Exemplars of these skills include the Career Quest program which exposes students to life in the working world and helps them to leave YHS with a plan in place for their futures. The economics class is being revised to include more practical lifelong financial literacy in order to help students develop the skills and knowledge to pursue a healthy and independent lifestyle. The Technology and Careers course taken by all ninth graders teaches students about media literacy and technological communication skills. Higher order thinking and problem solving is required by the YHS curriculum as evidenced in the NEASC self study and identified by YHS students, staff, and parents. Teachers guide students through effective organizational and study skills by requiring students to practice models of study and organization appropriate to their courses. Indicator 3 The curriculum emphasizes depth of understanding and application of knowledge through: inquiry and problem-solving higher order thinking cross-disciplinary learning authentic learning opportunities both in and out of school informed and ethical use of technology

The YHS syllabi and core content describes higher order thinking skills to be taught in each of the courses at YHS, and the staff has a high level of commitment to including higher order thinking skills and inquiry based problem solving in their courses. These elements appear throughout the broad spectrum of required and elective courses at YHS. For example, Inquiry and problem solving is being applied in senior Honors and Advanced English courses through the Intended Major Project. Students identify a debatable topic within their intended courses of study in college and develop a thesis driven research paper using authoritative sources appropriate to college level work. Most Physics students participate in a trebuchet project where they must design, build, and test a trebuchet model applying the concepts taught in the course in order to solve the

Curriculum problem. Higher order thinking is present across the YHS curriculum. 75% of teachers responded that higher order thinking skills are a part of the curriculum for courses they teach (96% in core subject areas). They are being applied in all economics classes through the stock market simulation where students research and strategize a stock portfolio for ten weeks and then create a reflective essay on the experience. Cross disciplinary learning has long been a goal of the curriculum at YHS. There is an English and Social studies interdisciplinary course where historical topics are reinforced by literature of the period. The course is co-taught by an English teacher and a Social studies teacher, including a common project every quarter that promotes common content and skills. However, there is a greater need and desire for additional cross-disciplinary learning at YHS. English and social studies teachers have explored the possibility of cross-over assignments between the two disciplines and plan to continue work after the NEASC review is over. The art and foods programs coordinate the Empty Bowls Project, an annual service learning initiative. Art students create ceramic bowls which are sold filled with soup made by the students in the 21st Century Foods course to raise money to fight hunger. Cross disciplinary learning is also supported by the school-wide six traits writing model and rubric as well as the student staffed writing center. The writing center is available for all students in the school working on improving writing tasks for any course. Authentic learning opportunities in and out of school are practiced through course work, co-curricular activities, and service learning projects. 69% of teachers said that authentic learning opportunities are a requirement for the courses they teach. Wee Wildcats is a program which brings preschool age children into the Teaching Young Children class to give students the hands-on experience of working with young children. The Advanced Political and Legal Studies course requires students to identify issues and needs within the school and community. They research, plan, and execute a project which provides an appropriate community solution. Informed and ethical use of technology can be found throughout the YHS curriculum. It is included in the student handbook and is expressly covered in the Technology and

Curriculum Careers course that all ninth graders take. The informed and ethical use of technology is reinforced in all classes at YHS which employ the use of technology. For example, some math, English, and social studies classes which use blogs and wikis employ the Acceptable Use Policy to instruct students in the ethical use of technology. While higher order thinking skills and inquiry based problem solving exist throughout YHS, there is no formal system wide mandate. Indicator 4 There is clear alignment between the written and taught curriculum. Alignment between written and taught curriculum comes primarily from the professionalism and integrity of the staff in completion of their jobs and from the use of school-wide rubrics for assessment. Some common assessments have been developed, and the school is discussing moving towards standards based learning. Six years ago, York was ahead of the state in the implementation of the mandated Common Local Assessment System (CLAS). Due to the state withdrawl of the CLAS mandate, it was scaled back at York. Currently there are some common assessments being developed which will directly serve the curriculum and the needs of the RTI system. The Leadership Team has started to discuss ways to create a standards based system, and some teachers are piloting it in their classes. Indicator 5 Effective curricular coordination and vertical articulation exist between and among all academic areas within the school as well as with sending schools in the district. York High School is actively involved in the district wide content area meetings for the purpose of vertical articulation of the entire curriculum. The academic cluster model was designed to promote crosscurricular discussion and revision. Each core content area is scheduled for common prep time every other school day to facilitate discussion among teachers in the same discipline. York High School does not have a formal time-bound curriculum review cycle. Curricular review is done as needed by the Curriculum Review Team. Two years ago the performing arts program was modified by adding an introductory course called
5

Curriculum Chorale. This was done through cooperation between the chorus teacher and the Curriculum Review Team in order to address the need for more basic instruction before students enter Chorus. The social studies teachers also made significant revisions to the improve course offerings to 10th and 11th grade students. The results of the revision are American Studies courses which include key themes of Modern European history and 20th Century courses which have been expanded to include history to the present day. YHS has taken the position that syllabi are evolving documents which are always under review and revision. Under the leadership of the current Curriculum Coordinator, following the direction of the changing initiatives at the state level, its our understanding that the York Schools have been at the forefront of state curriculum and assessment initiatives for the last decade, resulting in a curriculum which is always being examined by the staff. Time for collaboration regarding curriculum is limited. Much of it is driven by need, while other components occur on a scheduled basis. York High School faculty meetings have been organized around a modified PLC grouping over the last few years. This has yielded discussion around student support, curricular philosophy, and teaching essential skills throughout the curriculum. YHS has had little time for this crosscurricular collaboration due to other needs such as NEASC and RTI. When polled in the YHS self study, only 39% of teachers felt that they had sufficient time to be engaged in formal curriculum evaluation, review, and revision work. For the last three years, the district Technology Coordinator has organized a faculty inservice day dedicated to the meaningful integration of technology into the curriculum of the York Schools. This technology day is driven by teacher identified need for integration of technology into the curriculum. K-12 content area curriculum meetings occur on a regular schedule (three times a year). According to survey data, the faculty feels that enough time is devoted to meeting K-12 (58%), but they feel strongly that meeting time should be more productive (82%). Indicator 6

Curriculum Staffing levels, instructional materials, technology, equipment, supplies, facilities, and the resources of the library/media center are sufficient to fully implement the curriculum, including the co-curricular programs and other learning opportunities. Staffing levels at York High School generally support the rigorous curriculum that is provided for students. Instructional materials are made readily available to properly implement this curriculum. Facilities at YHS have improved significantly to support the curricular needs of the school, but there are some identified needs which remain unfulfilled. Opportunities for technology integration to support curriculum are available, but the current equipment is unreliable and inadequate in terms of availability. Reasonable average class size (19 students per class) helps promote personalization within the classroom setting. Recently, a need for funding instructional days in the summer was identified for the execution of the AP curriculum. The late start date of the YHS school year puts its AP students at a disadvantage relative to other parts of the country who start the school year much earlier. Classes held in the summertime would help to mitigate that issue. In this fiscal year, one of the social studies positions was cut from full time to part time which negatively impacted the ability to offer elective courses and forced the elimination of Alternative Education social studies courses for seniors. Historically, the financial support for instructional materials has been excellent at YHS. In general all requested textbooks and materials are provided, but there have been some delays in large textbook orders. In a recent budget shortfall professional development reimbursement and funding for field trips was temporarily suspended. Resources supporting the curriculum have been suitable for introducing new technology, but have been unable to keep up with the demands of the intended curriculum. New technology acquisition has been supported by the technology budget. Purchase of Smartboards and recent purchase of iPad sets are intended to encourage the integration of technology into the curriculum. Teachers in most content areas report that the limited number of functional computers available to students is compromising the ability to deliver the curriculum. Additional

Curriculum concerns lie with the dependability of the network. Computer access at YHS includes labs, which have limited availability for classes, and aging pc and Mac laptops in small classroom sets (less than the average class size) which have become unreliable due to age and usage. In English, 50% of respondents said that number and condition of laptops (and computers) available changed how they approached the curriculum, and the other 50% said that those limitations required altering the curriculum itself. The library computer lab has been newly designated as a World Language lab, giving students in those classes access to online interactive activities linked to the textbooks used. Despite this, 100% of foreign language teachers said that limitations of technology have resulted in having to alter the curriculum or the approach to the curriculum. The Lab is in high demand for use by World Language classes and is available for use by other disciplines on a limited basis. Overall the YHS facility supports the implementation of the curriculum. In a survey, 67% of the faculty said that facility, material, or technological limitations had either no effect on their curriculum or merely changed their approach to teaching the curriculum; these factors didnt require them to alter the curriculum itself. In the fall of 2010, YHS opened a new performing arts wing with large classrooms, individual practice spaces, and a small computer lab. This was in response to a long-identified need for space for this program. It is a revision of a plan rejected by the voters to build a performing arts wing which upgraded the auditorium to a design appropriate to the size and needs of the school. The YHS chorus is still unable to perform at York High School because of the size of the choral program and the limited size of the current auditorium. Instead, the chorus must hold its performances at other venues such as St. Christophers Church and Portsmouth High School. The current auditorium facility also negatively impacts some co-curricular programs at YHS. Lack of a computer controlled lighting board, rehearsal space, and space for set design and building all limit the teaching opportunities in the theater arts, particularly in keeping current with theater technology. The limitations of the

Curriculum stage (no wing or fly space) prevents the employment of theater techniques and limits the number of students involved and choices of plays. A significant portion of the theater space is shared with the cheering and wrestling programs as a multipurpose room. 80% of the student body is involved with the YHS athletic program during their high school careers. During any given season, 60% of students are involved in a sport. In the past, the YHS athletic program has received financial support from the community, but in the last two years, budget cutbacks have forced the administration to hold to a 0% increase in the athletic budget. The 2011-12 budget will represent an additional cut of 10% from that figure. All athletic programs are affected by the inadequate training room. The space limitation prevents the trainer from working with more than a couple of students at a time, and it limits time that students are able to spend in practice. The lack of locker room space, equipment storage space, and field space make it a challenge to accommodate the number of students who participate in athletics. The multipurpose room doesnt adequately accommodate a full-sized wrestling mat, and doesnt have the required ceiling height to allow cheerleaders to learn flying techniques and certain stunts. All five of the YHS tennis courts are in need of repair, and two of them are unusable. This limits practice and match space for the tennis team. YHS doesnt have an intramural sports program due to lack of field and gym space to support such a program. This prevents many students from exploring athletics beyond physical education classes. Despite these issues, the YHS athletics program has had tremendous success in varsity sports. This is due in large part to the experienced coaching staff, faculty and community support.

Indicator 7

Curriculum The district provides the schools professional staff with sufficient personnel, time, and financial resources for ongoing and collaborative development, evaluation, and revision of the curriculum using assessment results and current research. York High School provides common time for collaboration both within and outside of the school day, but it is not designated for curriculum development and is often consumed by other demands on teachers time. Teachers are provided with common prep time within core disciplines during the school day for collaborative development of the curriculum, but taking advantage of this time requires that teachers give up their individual, scheduled prep time. The school has also provided substitutes for teachers to work on curriculum initiatives in the past few years. In 2010, English teachers were given release time for completion of the syllabi, and the development of the Alternative Education English/Social Studies collaborative courses was supported with per diem pay for the development of the curriculum. In the summer of 2010, there was a paid RTI retreat to train the RTI data team to prepare it for its work during the school year. There have been some attempts at training staff to use assessment results in the revision and development of curriculum, but no additional time has been provided for review of assessment results in the evaluation and revision of the curriculum. Substantial teacher time is needed to develop curriculum based on assessment data. Some analysis and revision of curriculum is happening by teacher initiative; most notably, the Math and English curriculums have developed new courses to support learners with specific needs. The culture of YHS encourages the staff to explore current research. YHS has provided and promoted books for staff members who seek to change practice through current methodology. The school has sponsored pedagogical book club dinners to encourage staff to access different educational models. An outgrowth of the book clubs was the creation of the Success for Every Student committee, which was also supported by sending several staff members to a training workshop by the Dufours, supplemental to their book Whatever It

10

Curriculum Takes. This philosophy has influenced individual student intervention at YHS such as the development of the Guided Study program.

Executive Summary

York High School has core values which have been developed from our long-standing philosophy of education Personalization, Academic Rigor, and Success for Every Student. This philosophy has been developed and implemented by strong leadership among the faculty. York High Schools curriculum is the product of the commitment by the faculty to continually evaluate and revise based on the needs of the student population. The curriculum is written in a common format and is aligned with the Maine Learning Results, but does not explicitly address all of the schools 21st century learning expectations, instructional strategies, and assessment practices that include the use of school-wide analytical and course specific rubrics. The 21st century learning expectations are being implemented across the curriculum and will be included on the syllabi. The school has created and is beginning to implement school-wide rubrics in order to ensure all students have acquired the necessary content and skills. The curriculum emphasizes depth of understanding through inquiry, problem solving, and higher order thinking. The majority of the faculty reported that they are currently incorporating these skills into their curriculum. Cross-disciplinary learning and authentic learning opportunities are offered, but are not mandated school wide. The taught curriculum is aligned with the written curriculum, but system wide conditions to ensure compliance do not exist. Teachers are bound by their common syllabi, but it is their integrity and professionalism which ensures its execution.
11

Curriculum There is coordination between sending schools and across the curriculum through the multiple K-12 curriculum teams. Faculty would like to see time in K-12 curriculum team meetings used more effectively to collaborate on vertical articulation. Staffing levels, the library/media center, equipment, and supplies are adequate in their support of the curriculum. Facilities and technology are minimally sufficient to support the curriculum. The availability of reliable technology for student and teacher use is a consistent impediment to effective integration of technology into the curriculum. Facility limitations impact the co-curricular program. Personnel and financial resources for ongoing collaboration and revision are available to the staff. More release time is needed to properly assess and revise curriculum. Collaboration is a goal, but sometimes comes at the expense of time devoted to student learning and teacher responsibilities.

Although the committee believes that York High School is adequate in regards to most of the curriculum indicators, it must rate YHS as limited due to the lack of the schools 21st century learning expectations, instructional strategies, and assessment practices that include the use of school-wide analytical and course specific rubrics in the common written curriculum.

STRENGTHS * Common Syllabi * YHS Core Values which guide curriculum development * Strong, positive faculty buy-in for core values and 21st century expectations * Faculty leadership (active participation in development of the philosophy and curriculum of the school) * Weekly Cluster Leader meetings * Multiple opportunities for higher order thinking and inquiry/problem solving embedded in the curriculum * District wide Acceptable Use Policy for technology * Outstanding participation in co-curricular activities despite facility limitations * Data Team established to analyze assessment results to inform our curriculum
12

Curriculum

NEEDS * Common essential questions and assessment practices formally included in the curriculum * Increase cross-disciplinary learning opportunities * Conditions which ensure that written and taught curriculum align * More effective use of K-12 time to improve vertical articulation * Adequate and accessible technology for curriculum development and implementation * Sufficient physical space to support intramural, athletic, and performing arts programs * Adequate designated time for curriculum development which does not detract from teachers prep and student time

13