Curriculum Alignment - Visual & Performing Arts
Seattle Public School’s Strategic Plan, Excellence for All, commits the District to ensuring high expectations and a high quality school for every student. As part of a system-wide effort to increase the number of Seattle Public School students that graduate from high school prepared for college and the 21st century work force, Seattle Public School (SPS) has committed to curriculum alignment in academic subjects across all schools.
An aligned curriculum is a coherent and consistent progression of content, instruction, and assessment within a course of study. SPS recognizes the value of the arts and has included all art forms in the alignment and 7-year adoption process. K-5 General Music is the first arts content area to be aligned and will be followed by 6-12 Theatre and 6-12 Music.
K-5 General Music alignment supports the following:
- Essential content knowledge and skill necessary for students’ successful participation in secondary music
- Washington State Music Essential Academic Learning Requirements
- National Music Standards
Alignment Team
The following schools and regions were represented on the General Music alignment team:
Adams Elementary, Northwest
Broadview – Thomson, K-8, Northwest
Bryant Elementary, Northeast
Graham Hill Elementary, Southeast
John Stanford International School, Central
Schmitz Park Elementary, West Seattle
Whittier Elementary, Northwest
The General Music Alignment Committee offers the following maps of the essential content/knowledge and skills for K-5 Music. The General Music curriculum maps were unanimously approved on October 27, 2010 by the K-5 SPS Music teachers.
We thank all participants for their contributions to the alignment process and in the development of Seattle Public School’s K-5 General Music curriculum. We are also interested in hearing from the families and community members. Email comments to Carri Campbell
Visual & Performing Arts Adoption
Seattle Public Schools will adopt instructional materials to support K-5 General Music courses. To do this we will be forming an Adoption Committee that will take input from educators and community members in order to determine the types of instructional materials to be reviewed. The committee will then select the materials for each grade level and proceed to get Board approval for the materials.
Community Engagement
Dear Family and Community Members:
Seattle Public Schools is undertaking an adoption of instructional materials for K-5 General Music. This adoption, along with the aligned curriculum, will provide consistency in instruction at our elementary schools, targeted support for teachers and schools, and allow us to better focus our professional development offerings.
All adopted instructional materials will be designed to meet cultural relevance and accessibility standards, and will incorporate methods for teaching all students, including those receiving special education, bilingual, or advanced learning services.
K-5 General Music Adoption Process
The first step is to establish a K-5 General Music Adoption Committee. The committee will be made up of twelve Seattle Public Schools educators (10-11 Language Arts teachers and 1-2 middle school administrators) and three family/community representatives.
Committee Goal: Review, evaluate, align, and recommend instructional materials including assessments in support of the recently established SPS K-5 music course objectives and curriculum map. The K-5 music curriculum map is aligned to the Washington State Music Standards.
Committee Purpose: To ensure an adoption process that is collaborative and responsive to our internal and external stakeholders’ diverse needs.
Outcomes: Recommend to the Seattle School Board the adoption of K-5 General Music instructional materials aligned to the established SPS course objectives.