Classroom instruction is supported by a library media center collection that reflects the themes being studied. The result is a school-wide curriculum designed around thematic units that integrate various content areas and critical thinking skills at each grade level. For the staff at Mililani Mauka, curriculum planning is a collaborative effort that involves grade-level teachers and the library media specialist. The casual observer might think that our school has come up with a formula for resolving all the nagging questions facing educators in the last decade of the twentieth century. Students are engaged and motivated.
Teachers are focused.
Everyone is collaborating to build an educational environment that is both productive and nurturing. Occasionally we are reminded that nothing in education is ever perfect. Concerns like this have prompted us to focus school renewal efforts on assessment. Study sessions made possible through a Goals 2000 grant have targeted the basic principles of assessment. We realized that to better understand what was happening on a daily basis in our classrooms and library media center, we needed to define our learning expectations clearly.