Community partners aim to strengthen curriculum: Bellevue School District 405 / Washington.

Bellevue School District 405 in Bellevue, Wash., is undertaking a thorough curriculum review as part of a joint school/community partnership designed to make its students more competitive.

The long-term goal is to provide all Bellevue students with a strong college preparatory education that will empower them to pursue any career they choose and to be fully competitive with the top students worldwide. The curriculum review resulted in the school district being named the Washington state winner in the 2007 National Civic Star Award competition.

In conducting the review, information was acquired from teachers, curriculum coaches, administrators and analysts from outside the district to ensure objectivity. The Bellevue Schools Foundation, a nonprofit community organization, funded a study by Bill Schmidt, director of the National Research Center for Trends in International Math and Science Study. The center provided an analysis of the district's curriculum and pointed to its strengths and weaknesses and to topics needing realignment.

In addition, Standards for Success analyzed Bellevue's curriculum according to the expectations of 400 university professors who have identified skills and knowledge that students entering college need to succeed on that level.

The Bellevue Community College and the University of Washington are assisting in aligning the Bellevue district's curriculum with their offerings to make it easier for students to experience smooth transitions from high school to college.

Supported by Boeing Corp. and with input from a strong advisory board, teachers in workshops over a period of several summers are examining and restructuring their entire K-12 math curriculum and aligning it with the best national and international standards.

Teachers are developing inquiry-based lessons so that students will become active learners, problem solvers and critical thinkers.

In science, one of the world's leading molecular biologists, Leroy Hood, is working with teachers to develop modules that will enhance the ninth-grade biology course, Biology as Information Science.

Early benefits include achievement improvements across a diverse population. In 2006, for example, 74 percent of the graduating class earned at least four credits in math, an increase of eight percentage points over a two-year period. Eighty-two percent of the graduating class earned at least one AP or IB credit, and most earned more.

As the curriculum evolves, partnerships are expected to continue to make meaningful contributions. They enhance the objectivity of school personnel and help keep the school system grounded in the real world.

For more information, contact Superintendent Michael N. Riley at [phone] or by e-mail at rileym@bsd405. org. His mailing address is Bellevue School District 405, P.O. Box 90010, Bellevue, WA 98009.