Language+Arts+Curriculum+-+Site+Visit+Committee

=__**Language Arts Curriculum - Site Visit Committee**__= Sue Grugan Natalie McMinn Judy Lamb Jessica Brown Tim Moxey Laurie Stehli Donna Blakeman Kim McGlonn-Nelson

Upper Dublin School District Site Visit:

Site Visits Questionnaire: Elementary and Middle Schools What would you identify to be the strengths of your language arts program? What adjustments have you made to the language arts curriculum to address the Common Core? Do you use specific programs for reading, writing, and grammar instruction? If so, what are they, and what elements of these programs make them successful? Do you take a holistic approach to language arts instruction, or is instruction broken down by the topics of reading, writing, and grammar? How would you describe the writing process your students use? What texts are used in the various grade levels? Are the novels part of thematic units or stand-alone texts? What types of assessments are used in language arts classrooms? How do language arts teachers incorporate technology into the curriculum? How do language arts teachers incorporate poetry into the curriculum? How do language arts teachers incorporate nonfiction into the curriculum? Can you describe cross-curricular units implemented by language arts teachers? Which elements of the language arts curriculum make it rigorous?


 * High School: Questions/Areas of Inquiry**

Course offerings: what, when, requirements for each course? What texts do you read in each course? How do you approach the selection of these texts? What is your Keystone remediation programming/courses (when, by whom)? SAT preparation programming (explicit? Out of school? Dedicated course?) What does your reading remediation programming look like? What is your test preparation philosophy (SAT & Keystone)- explicit instruction or integrated? Philosophy for differentiation (tracking? ELL? Special Education? Gifted?) Student & Teacher use of technology- how is it used in the English classroom to enhance learning? What are the strengths of your English department/curriculum? What is your approach to grammar instruction? Do you have a required independent outside reading curriculum (summers, during the school year)? How long are your English classes (time)? Number and length of papers per grade, per quarter/semester/year?


 * Special Education: Questions/Areas of Inquiry**

What curricula do you currently use for intensive reading intervention in grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12. In what instructional model is intensive reading intervention delivered: pull-out, push-in, other? Have you identified specific instructional materials to teach language arts and writing? Have additional, specific programs to meet the needs of students with severe decoding/phonics-related disabilities been identified and utilized? How successful would you say these programs have been to help these struggling learners?

Upper Dublin Wissahickon Lower Merion Masterman Methacton LaSalle Penn Charter Jenkintown (Germantown Academy?)
 * Planned Sites:**