Language Arts/English Curriculum Frameworks - Albemarle County ...

Lifelong-Learner Standards
Lifelong-Learner Standards set expectations for how students learn, analyze information, and
communicate, and are designed to provide students with a foundation for lifelong inquiry and learning.
Lifelong-Learner Standards are tied to grade level assessments. A complete listing of the standards is
included in the Appendix.
Concept-Centered Instruction
Learning is organized around major, transferable concepts that allow students to deepen their
understanding of English Language Arts. Concepts provide both a lens for making sense of a wide body of
knowledge and a framework for organizing and prioritizing information. Disciplinary concepts organize
units of study within each course or across a subject area. Concept maps are included in this curriculum
framework to show how these concepts connect to each other, spiral throughout the vertical curriculum,
and incorporate the Virginia Standards of Learning for English Language Arts. Standards-based, conceptcentered
instruction ensures that all students learn more than discrete facts; they engage in higher-order
thinking to examine systems of language, communication, and universal themes.
Assessment
Assessment is both formative and summative, allowing teachers and students to assess conceptual
understandings, content knowledge, and skills development. Formative assessments occur as part of each
unit of study and provide both teachers and students with information about student mastery of material
taught. Formative assessments give teachers information needed to adjust and monitor instruction and to
address individual and class weaknesses. Students are encouraged to take ownership of their own learning
and to monitor their own strengths and weaknesses from planning to learn to the evaluative stage.
Summative assessments are directly linked to demonstration of growth in the county Lifelong-Learner
Standards and the English Language Arts habits of mind. Both formative and summative assessments are
differentiated and vary in format with an emphasis on writing and evaluative skills.
© Albemarle County Public Schools, May 2006 6