Teaching & Learning
The Teaching and Learning (T&L) Department is committed to providing the best education for every student in Steilacoom Historical School District No. 1.
Our department's work occurs in four key areas: K-12 curriculum & instructional development; instructional enrichment support; assessment, and professional learning.
Enriched Core Instruction (ECI) is our instructional model for the Steilacoom Historical School District No. 1. ECI is our promise to each parent and student that we will provide the elements essential for school success in each school, at each grade level. There are six core elements to ECI: Academic Rigor, Social Emotional Learning, Equity, Inclusion, Universal Design for Learning and Neural Education. Each of these elements are important to provide the resources and experiences necessary for all students to thrive in the school environment.
In our professional learning and planning for instruction, we don’t focus on a single element at one time. Rather, we consider the constant interaction between different elements and the student. For example, we all agree that academic challenge (rigor) should be a part of every lesson. We also know that for a student to meet the content challenge, that we need to create lessons that incorporate different learning and expression styles (UDL), and we also need to provide access to the challenging content for those with disabilities, language barriers, or other needs of support (inclusion). Enriched means students get what they need, and that what benefits some students can actually benefit all.
Our intention is that using ECI as our instructional framework will provide a responsive and complete learning experience that will enable each student to be successful in meeting learning standards and in becoming a strong, confident, independent learner.
Our work is guided by our three-year district Improvement Plan. Our district uses the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching to define the components of excellent instruction. The Washington State Learning Standards (WSLS) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) determine what our students should know and be able to do at each grade level in preparation for their chosen college and career pathways.