High School Curriculum

The new graduation requirement for all Michigan high school students were passed into law in November of 2005.

The core curriculum requirements include:

• English – 4 credits
• Math – 4 credits including algebra II and math during the senior year. One math credit may be a math elective such as business math or accounting.
• Science – 3 credits including biology and chemistry OR physics
• Social Studies – 3 credits including government, economics (half credit each) and U.S. and World History, each with a geography component.

In the spring of 2006 the Michigan Department of Education released the High School Content Expectations for science, English/Language Arts, social studies, and mathematics. These expectations described what every student needed to know and be able to do in these four content areas by the end of high school. While awaiting the release of the course specific documents that will describe exactly what must be taught in every one of the core curriculum courses required for graduation, the high school departments began to consider how they would organize their courses so that they would align with these expectations.

Discussions on professional development days across the 2006-2007 school year focused on alignment of courses to the High School Content Expectations and the organization of courses necessary for students to be successful in meeting the high school graduation requirements beginning with the class of 2011 (fall 2007 freshman class). Each of the core courses in the Michigan Merit Curriculum was assigned a course owner. The responsibility of this course owner was to be the “contact person” for the course for both teaches and parents. The course owner was responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the course key concepts so that every student would receive the same content in the course, independent of who was teaching the course.

Additionally the high school spent PD time reviewing alternate schedules that would offer students on the Michigan Merit curriculum more opportunities for choice and more opportunities for success. A decision to move forward with planning for a fall 2008 implementation of the trimester schedule was made by the high school staff on Oct 6, 2006.

Mathematics curriculum materials for Pre-Algebra through Algebra II were reviewed during the 2006-2007 school year. Based upon the recommendations of the curriculum review team, new mathematics books were purchased summer 2007 and teachers were provided Professional Development on these new materials, which were implemented in the fall of 2007.

As a result of World Studies with a geography component becoming a required course for all students beginning with the class of 2011, World Studies textbooks were also reviewed during the summer of 2007 with new text adoption taking place late summer. These textbooks were also be implemented fall 2007.