Designing 21st Century Universal Classrooms

CCSU’s PreK-12/Tech instructional programs support the vision tenets of student-centered learning communities by promoting achievement and equity in safe, positive learning environments.

Our instructional programs are the vehicle for the delivery of CCSU’s Comprehensive Curriculum and Guaranteed, Viable Curriculum. Emphasis is placed on the development of effective academic literacy skills: communication through writing, critical reading, and critical and creative thinking, as well as proficiency in essential skills in all subject areas.

Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction (DI) is a strategy for providing appropriate learning opportunities to all students. Rooted in the philosophy that students learn differently and therefore need different teaching, DI involves adjusting the instructional content, process, and/or product in response to student readiness, interest, and/or learning profile. More about Differentiated Instruction…

Supported Learning Environments

Supported Learning Environments promote learning and equity for all students by addressing barriers to learning so that all students can attain learning goals. A Supported Learning Environment is more than a supportive climate; Supported Learning Environments offer specific selected and targeted interventions that allow students to be successful in attaining learning goals. Interventions for struggling students support learning in the general classroom rather than supplanting it. Supported approaches are identified in personalized learning plans for students developed by the teachers, students, department heads, and/or grade level teams. In Supported Learning Environments, all adults are seen as potential resources for learning, understand their roles in “best first teaching,” and utilize multiple collaborative teaching models to meet the needs of diverse learners. Classroom teachers are supported by teams in using a variety of intervention approaches to support struggling students. Teams regularly communicate to determine the need for supplemental supports within the Universal Classroom. Specialists play a variety of roles in classrooms through consultation, modeling differentiated teaching strategies and instructional interventions, and collaborative modification of learning plans.

Last updated: Aug 12 at 1:29 pm