Curriculum & Instruction

A strong educational program remains strong through ongoing examination, updating, and revision. Curricula change as a result of changes in state laws, graduation requirements, new academic standards adopted by the Illinois State Board of Education, and scholarship and developments in K-12 education.

Through both traditional and interdisciplinary offerings, students make connections across subjects, develop meaningful insights, and build the skills needed for success in college, career, and life. Our evolving curriculum reflects a deep commitment to preparing all students for a rapidly changing world.

District 65 and ETHS District 202 have joined to support student reading growth in grades K-3 and as students make the transition from 8th grade to their freshman year.

Disciplinary Literacy is an instructional framework designed to develop the habits of mind in a given academic discipline. By fostering in students the ability to investigate, reason, read, write, talk, and problem solve, students learn in the discipline in the specific ways that practitioners of the discipline do (McConachie, 2009).

Disciplinary literacy seeks to integrate general reading and communication strategies in the development of these habits of mind while simultaneously building discipline-specific content knowledge and skills through students’ education, PreK-12.

The improvement of student achievement depends upon having a strong professional community, one in which teachers, counselors, administrators, and staff work together to review student results and make changes in curriculum, instruction, and specific interventions to ensure that students succeed. In a strong professional community, educators are constantly learning—deepening their discipline-specific knowledge, increasing their instructional repertoires, and expanding their knowledge of students’ development and needs.

This office supports the development of a high quality educational program by: conducting evaluations to monitor major instructional programs and initiatives; administering and reporting on standardized achievement tests including ACT system and Advanced Placement; by assisting departments in collecting and analyzing data to improve student learning; and by working with external research partners to conduct research that informs our practice.