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Curriculum Services

The Payson Unified School District has embraced the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model for continuous improvement. Through adult learning, collaboration, and collective inquiry we focus on student achievement with the goal that all students graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college and career. We adhere to the philosophy that all children can learn and that we, as educators, will do whatever it takes to help each student reach his/her potential.

To that end, the Curriculum Services Department provides leadership and support in the following areas:

Accountability | Assessment | Career & Technical Education
Career Ladder | Curriculum & Instruction | English Language Learners

Accountability

No Child Left Behind

The No Child Left Behind act of 2001, commonly known as NCLB, is a federal law that was enacted on January 8, 2002. This law represents the most sweeping changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act since it was enacted in 1965. It changes the federal government’s role in kindergarten-through-grade 12 education by asking schools to describe their success in terms of student achievement. The act contains the President’s four basic education reform principles: stronger accountability for results, increased flexibility and local control, expanded options for parents, and an emphasis on teaching methods that have been proven to work. PUSD Curriculum Services implements strategies, programs, and regulations that support the mandates of NCLB addressing student remediation and measured student achievement.

Arizona LEARNS

Similar in scope and nature to NCLB, Arizona Governor Jane Hull signed into law Arizona LEARNS, which will provide schools with a definition of academic progress and accountability. The goals of Arizona LEARNS are to promote greater student achievement and establish rewards for results, using the Arizona Academic Standards as the benchmark.

After October, 2002 schools across the state received achievement profiles and labels identifying them as Excelling, Highly Performing, Performing Plus, Performing, Underperforming, or Failing to Meet Academic Standards.

Individual school achievement profiles and labels can be found on each school’s website.

Websites

Information on No Child Left Behind
www.nochildleftbehind.gov

Information on Arizona LEARNS
www.ade.az.gov/azlearns

Assessment

In accordance with state and federal mandates the following assessments are administered to students:

Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS)

Stanford 10

Career & Technical Education

The Payson Unified School District offers a comprehensive Career and Technical Education (CTE) program with career exploration opportunities in 8th grade and variety of career preparation programs for grades 9-12.

CTE programs offered at Payson High School:

CTE programs offered on the Gila County Community College Campus:

Juniors and seniors who successfully complete 11th and 12th grade CTE courses earn dual-enrollment credit, earning both credit toward high school graduation and community college credit. Students who complete a program and pass the end-of-program assessment earn a certificate of proficiency.

Each program has a student organization that plays in integral part in the students’ CTE experience. See the Payson High School website for details about the activities of these organizations.

Common Core Standards

The Common Core Standards will be implemented in 2012-13. Created by teachers, parents, education experts, and others from across the country, the standards provide clear, consistent expectations for what students should be learning at each grade in order to be prepared for college and career. The following PTA link provides an excellent summary for each grade level.  Common Core

Career Ladder

Mission

It is the mission of the Payson Career Ladder Program (CLP) to foster and promote excellence in student achievement and teacher performance. We believe this can be accomplished through mutual sharing and support as well as increased opportunities and incentives for teachers to continually improve their skills. In addition, we believe that the Career Ladder Program should be a vehicle for restructuring so that we may facilitate our children meeting the stringent demands of the twenty-first century.

Program description

The PUSD CLP consists of three levels: Level I – Beginning Teacher, Level II – Advanced Development Teacher, and Level III – Master Teacher. Level I has two vertical steps, Level II has five vertical steps, and Level III has four vertical steps. Progress up the Ladder requires increasingly higher levels of student growth at increasingly higher levels of cognitive demand. Continued progress is also predicated upon individual professional growth and professional leadership. Each teacher is required to keep a portfolio with specific requirements at each level and step. Remuneration increases with movement up the Ladder.

Research

Several research projects have been conducted on the effects of the Career Ladder Program on student achievement. Payson Unified School District was included in the most recent study which found that students in Career Ladder schools are performing significantly better on AIMS measures than did students in non-career ladder schools. This link provides a summary of the reports. http://www.ade.az.gov/asd/CareerLadder/SummaryofResearchontheCLprogram.pdf

Curriculum & Instruction

Curriculum

District Curriculum is based on the Common Core standards, rigorous national standards that prepare all students for college and career readiness by graduation.

English Language Learners

Introduction

The Payson School District is committed to the success of limited-English proficient (LEP) students in our schools. It is our goal to provide our LEP students with a safe, structured learning environment, a quality research-based curriculum, a successful transition to academic studies, achievement of standards for grade promotion, and to graduate from high school.

Arizona Law

The PUSD ELL Program complies with all state and federal regulations for English language education, including:

English Language Education (ARS15-752)
Subject to the exceptions provided in section 15-753, all children in Arizona public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English and all children shall be placed in English language classrooms. Children who are English learners shall be educated through sheltered English immersion during a temporary transition period not normally intended to exceed one year. Local schools shall be permitted but not required to place in the same classroom English learners of different ages but whose degree of English proficiency is similar.

ADE Task Force Structured English Immersion (SEI) Model
English language education will take place in a structured English immersion classroom consisting only of students who are LEP as determined by AZELLA scores. Classes will be focused on students gaining English language proficiency as quickly as possible. English Language Development classes must use specific strategies, practices, methods and materials designed to help each child learn English. Curriculum and instruction are based on the Arizona English Language Development standards and the Discrete Skills Inventory.

ELL Staff

Teachers of structured English immersion classroom are highly-qualified, certified teachers. They have completed the state-mandated SEI training and attend various workshops and conferences throughout the year. Each SEI classroom has an instructional aide (as funding allows) who provides additional tutoring, small-group or individual instruction for students and clerical support for the teacher.

The ELL program is supervised by the Superintendent.

Program Description

The Payson Unified School District ELL program is based on the mainstream model for schools who have a low number of LEP students. Each student enrolled in the ELL program has an Individual Language Learner Plan (ILLP) based on their AZELLA scores and other academic assessments. A portion of the required four hours of English language instruction takes place in the SEI classroom while the remainder of the time is in an academic setting. In elementary school this would be a regular “homeroom” classroom; at middle and high school this would be a reading or language arts class. It is permissible in this model for ELL students to be in classrooms with non-LEP students. The ELL teacher coordinates with the classroom/content area teacher to ensure that the student is receiving instruction that supports the ELD standards and that the student is successful in this setting. The student’s ILLP may be modified during the school year should the student need more or less time in the SEI classroom.

English Language Learners with Disabilities

Like all limited English proficient students, students enrolled in special education must have intensive support for language acquisition. The location and nature of that support should be determined by each student’s IEP team with appropriate participation by the school’s ELL teacher.

Parental Involvement

Parents (or guardians) are encouraged to be involved in their student’s ELL educational program. Teachers provide updates on a regular basis through progress reports, notes, phone calls, and by scheduling meetings. The district has translators available to assist non-English speaking parents.

PUSD offers parent education classes through the Title I Parent Resource Center throughout the year. Parents of ELL students are invited to participate in all parent-related activities of the Center.

Parents must provide permission for their student to be enrolled in the ELL program. They may also elect to remove their student from the program prior to achieving proficiency on the AZELLA. The ELL staff provides student assessment results and classroom academic achievement status to assist parents in making the best decision for their student.

Service to Private Schools

In accordance with the No Child Left Behind Act, PUSD offers private schools within its boundaries equitable access to ELL services. If the private school has (a) student(s) who qualify for ELL services based on a state-approved assessment, the district ELL director will work with the private school director to determine an appropriate plan for the student(s).

Glossary of Terms

ADE: Arizona Department of Education
AZELLA: Arizona English Language Learners Assessment
DSI: Discrete Skills Inventory
ELD: English Language Development
ELL: English Language Learner
ESL: English as a Second Language
FEP: Fully English Proficient
ILLP: Individual Language Learner Plan
LEP: Limited English Proficient
PHLOTE: Primary Home Language Other Than English Survey
SEI: Sheltered English Instruction
WICP: Written Individualized Compensatory Instruction Plan

Resources

Arizona Department of Education
Office of English Language Acquisition Services
http://www.ade.az.gov/oelas/

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.
http://www.tesol.org

ED.gov – Doing What Works
http://dww.ed.gov/

National Clearing House for English Language Acquisition (NCELA)
http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/