Standards Based Curriculum & Planning
Cornerstone Prep uses the K-5 educational standards, as
mandated by the Tennessee Department of Education, and then infuses the K-5
educational standards for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This process
ensures that Cornerstone Prep students are learning at a pace that parallels
students across the nation, as Massachusetts has some of the strongest
educational standards in the United States[1]. Further, Cornerstone Prep synthesizes standards from the Terra Nova national
achievement test to prepare Cornerstone Prep students to compete on the
national level.
The merged Tennessee and Massachusetts standards are called Cornerstone Prep Academic Standards [CPAS].
Using the CPAS, the Principal and teachers develop Curriculum Alignment
Templates (CATs) where standards are listed and from which the weekly plans,
daily plans, daily lessons, syllabi, "Do
Now" activities, mini lessons, assessments and homework assignments are
developed.
[1] Recent work by the State University of New York
indicates that many urban students desire to be challenged by their teachers
and their school environment. Researchers found that students wanted teachers
who pushed them “to complete their work.” Several student respondents stated “I
prefer a teacher who makes sure that I do it right. If they know I can do
better, I want someone who will push me.” “It is not that I’m lazy, but I like
a teacher to push me to learn [sic]. I might not be that confident at first,
but then I’ll get it.” Bruce L. Wilson and H. Dickson Corbett, Listening to urban kids: School reform and
the teachers they want, (2001), p. iv, 70.