SECTION 2: Manage

Curriculum Tools

Coordinated Curriculum

Creating a coordinated curriculum, aligned to ACT 173 that is both coherent and nimble will provide school counselors with a solid framework on which to build their instructional activities and assessment opportunities, while allowing them the flexibility to use their professional expertise to design the best educational environments for their individual students. A systems-wide coordination of curriculum will ensure all students across the SU/SD are exposed to content and concepts aligned to standards, develop skills through high quality core instruction. 

Lesson Plans

The VTCSCP model endorses backwards-design lesson plans as developed by Universal Design for Learning principles. This involves three steps:

• Step 1: Determine desired student outcomes [what do you want students to know, understand and do as a result of participating in the lesson]. 
• Step 2: Determine how students will be assessed [pre/post, written reflection, project, etc.] and create the assessment. 
• Step 3: Determine lesson steps and materials needed to reach the desired outcomes 

To support lesson planning utilize the ASCA Lesson Plan template: ASCA Templates & Resources. 

Lesson plans adhere to each school’s Classroom and Group Mindsets & Behaviors Action Plan, which indicates which lessons will be taught when and which ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors will be addressed. Lesson plans include participation, mindsets & behaviors and outcome data, when possible. It is recommended that lessons derive from research and /or evidence based curriculum when possible. A list of evidence based SEL curriculum can be found in Appendix A: VTSCA Task Force SEL curriculum Services.