Foster City Islander Article - 10-25-2006
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Charter Public |
Phyllis Moore, President, Foster City High School Foundation |
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Standards for Success
Foster City’s tuition-free, charter public high school will educate its students using a Standards-based Curriculum. Over the last decade, the majority of school districts across the country have adopted this common sense approach to improving teaching and learning.
Standards and curriculum are linked. Standards describe the knowledge, concepts, and skills that a student should learn in each year of school. The curriculum outlines the school work that students complete to meet those standards, and regular testing measures how much they have learned.
Students do better when they understand clearly what the school expects them to achieve in each major area—math and science, English and foreign language, health and physical education, history and social science, visual and performing arts.
Our school’s rigorous standards will meet or exceed those required for admission to the University of California. They will also guide the development of every student’s Personalized Learning Plan that will include coursework, individual study, school projects and community internships.
Curriculum and PLP are also linked. The curriculum describes what will be learned, while the PLP describes how it will be learned. The PLP customizes the curriculum so that it works best for each student, based on individual abilities, knowledge and interests.
The Standards-based Curriculum, together with the PLP, challenges all students to achieve at their highest level, even though that level differs from student to student. Those who have difficulty meeting the standards receive additional help and those who exceed the standards are offered greater challenges. This approach helps make sure that all students are successful in school and achieve their full potential.
