CCA - Curriculum and Instructional Design

Cesar Chavez Academy – Colorado Springs follows a model established by CCA – Pueblo for grades K-8 and utilizes a Core Knowledge Program.

The Core Knowledge Program, Success for All, Open Court Reading, and the Jon Collins Writing Program are fundamental curricular components of the K-8 program. Following is a description of each, and how it fits into the overall instructional design of the school.

The Core Knowledge Program: Used in Grades K-8

The "Core Knowledge" movement is an educational reform based on the premise that a grade-by-grade core of common learning is necessary to ensure a sound and fair elementary education. The movement was started by Professor E. D. Hirsch, Jr., author of Cultural Literacy and The Schools We Need, and is based on a large body of research in cognitive psychology, as well as a careful examination of several of the world's fairest and most effective school systems. Professor Hirsch has argued that, for the sake of academic excellence, greater fairness, and higher literacy, early schooling should provide a solid, specific, shared core curriculum in order to help children establish strong foundations of knowledge. After wide consultation, the content of this core curriculum has been outlined in two books — the Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence and the Core Knowledge Sequence, K–8 — that state explicitly what students should learn at each grade level. Currently, hundreds of schools and thousands of dedicated educators are participating in this school reform movement throughout the United States.

(source)

Core Knowledge is utilized as the foundational curriculum for the K-8 educational program. Core Knowledge operates a curricular approach centered on teaching a core of concepts, knowledge, and skills that characterize an educated individual. The curriculum provides a framework for teaching content areas and a level of specificity for topics. The curriculum functions best to address student achievement when used in conjunction with other program supporting reading, writing, and math skills.

Success For All: Used in Grades K-8

Success for All (SFA) is a comprehensive reading approach designed to ensure that every child will read at grade level or above. The program emphasizes prevention and early intervention to respond to and solve any child’s learning problems. SFA is an approved model in accordance with the “No Child Left Behind” legislation. Success for All provides schools with:

The Success for All reading program is based on extensive research into the ways children learn to read and write. At the heart of the program is 90 minutes of uninterrupted, daily reading instruction. Beginning in the first grade, children are grouped across classes and grades by reading level. Regrouping gives each teacher the opportunity to work intensively with the student one reading level at a time. Cooperative learning embedded throughout the program focuses on individual student accountability, common goals, and recognition of group success. Providing the opportunity to work with peers enables students to master basic reading skills as they continue to grow as thoughtful learners.

John Collins Writing Program: Used in grades 1-8

The Collins Writing Program consists of a practical model for a writing-across-the-curriculum/writing-to-learn program and a classroom management system in the Cumulative Writing Folder Program. The Collins writing-across-the-curriculum model defines five types of writing assignments and the outcomes expected for each.  This model can be used in all classrooms in all subject areas from grades four to twelve. The  Cumulative Writing Folder Program consists of four elements contributing to a unified writing curriculum: a writing management system in the portfolio writing folders and three teaching strategies including oral reading, focus correcting, and using past papers to teach new skills.  This part of the program is designed to be used by students beginning in grades one or two and continuing through to grade twelve, and has been successfully used in special education, with the gifted and talented, and in English as a second language programs.

Step Up to Writing Program
The Step Up to Writing program is used for grades 1- 812 as a basis for organization. It is used as an foundational tool addressing the elements of writing including essay organization. Step Up to Writing is a collection of multi- sensory, logically organized, “teacher friendly” strategies that improve the writing skills of kindergarten through post-secondary-grade students. The program is delivered through a direct instruction and modeling approach by the teacher, guided practice followed by independent practice by the student Writing essentials are covered through teaching students how to pre-write and plan, how to draft, revise and edit their writing.

Mathematics Program: For Grades K-8
The mathematics program at Cesar Chavez Academy is a data-driven program designed to foster strong math concept understanding and problem-solving skills in all students, K-8.  The curriculum focuses on the Colorado state math standards and frameworks, and has been developed to help prepare students for the math portion of the annual CSAP assessment.  Our goal is to develop young scholars who are proficient with grade level appropriate computational skills and techniques, who can solve problems by applying those skills and techniques, and who can communicate their mathematical reasoning clearly to others.