Curriculum Department

Curriculum Calendar

Curriculum in Howell Public Schools is grounded in the Michigan State Standards and Benchmarks. It is essential that curriculum, instruction and assessment be grounded in the same standards. Curriculum and instruction should continually change to meet the needs of our students, as identified through benchmark assessments of the standards we teach. We must view each student’s distinct need and adjust instruction to meet these needs as identified by the assessments given.

Major changes in curriculum have been taking place at our state level. As the state curriculum and assessment standards change, our courses must also change to realign to the new curriculum releases. New GLCE's (Grade Level Content Expectations) are being released that all districts, within the state of Michigan, must work to define what is taught at each grade level. The GLCE's take the Standards and Benchmarks that have been defined by the Michigan Department of Education and focus on what students should know at each grade level. These also help to define what will be assessed on our MEAP (Michigan Education Assessment of Progress) assessment. GLCE's have been developed for ELA and Math in grades K-8. We are awaiting the final versions for Science and Social Studies.

High school Course Content Expectations are undergoing significant changes with the high school reform movement across the nation. We continue to monitor and adjust our courses based on these new course content expectations. High school curriculum, listed on our website, may best be described as "under construction", as we await significant changes in our core curricular areas to advance from our state. High school graduation requirements will significantly change courses offered for the graduating class of 2011 and beyond. Our district is taking an innovative approach in defining courses and curriculum offered to our students. We invite you to visit our curriculum site often to see the content of our courses and how they will be offered.

Jeanne Farina
Associate Superintendent of Curriculum, Assessment and Staff Development