Curriculum

Core Academic Content Areas: Curriculum and Alignment 

Underpinning Think Through Academy’s curriculum is its educational philosophy as described in Section A.1. Driven by the belief that preparation for the demands of the 21st century is based upon a strong academic foundation, the TTA curriculum will emphasize Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Interdisciplinary, aligned to the school’s vision, mission, and core values, and based on the Arizona Standards (ACCRS), TTA’s rigorous curriculum emphasizes literacy and numeracy in all disciplines. 

Curriculum aims, goals and objectives.

The TTA curriculum aims to prepare students for post-secondary success. It is the collective product of a team that includes TTA school leaders and four experts in curriculum development, all of whom serve on the AzMERIT committee. To ensure a balanced, appropriately sequenced curriculum with consistently high expectations for teaching and learning across all disciplines, the curriculum development process involves the following: unpacking Arizona State Standards; developing a systematic scope and sequence based on the standards; creating pacing guides and curriculum maps; determining building blocks for learning; and, establishing learning goals and success criteria. In addition, the team will create multiple curriculum resources for teachers to easily access online.

Curriculum content and subject matter

In response to the needs of its target population, the TTA curriculum  promotes inquiry based learning, higher level critical thinking skills and problem solving. Deeply committed to improving literacy, TTA will ensure that all curriculum units require the explicit instruction of grammar, academic vocabulary, reading and writing in all disciplines. Along with the core academic content areas of Mathematics, English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Foreign Language, the curriculum includes supplemental intervention courses that include Math Lab, Tutoring, Leadership, Academic Advisory, Study Skills, and Career Success. The TTA curriculum is organized as follows.

• Mathematics: 

Student centered with a focus on college and career readiness, math courses build on foundational and developmental skills and include  Algebra 1, Algebra 1 Honors, Algebra 2, Algebra 2 Honors, Geometry, Geometry Honors, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Probability and Statistics, and Business. TTA will supplement the math core curriculum with Focus in Math Research-based, the program provides step by step instructions and integrated interventions that guide students towards mastery of the standards. 

• English Language Arts (ELA): The ELA curriculum will provide rigorous reading and writing instruction to ensure that students are equipped with the literacy skills necessary for success in college and careers. The ELA curriculum in 9th through 12th grades will be literature-based and aligned with the Social Studies curriculum to support the school’s commitment to interdisciplinary learning. To teach the standards, teachers will use fiction and nonfiction texts that are rigorous, relevant, and culturally responsive. 

In addition, TTA has identified ‘READ 180’ as a supplementary resource. Scientifically based, it is an intensive reading intervention program that has been proven to significantly raise the reading scores of older, struggling readers.

• Science Curriculum: In an increasingly complex technological world, it is imperative that TTA students are well prepared in science. To this end, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) will complement the science curriculum, shifting the focus away from traditional teaching methods in which students are forced to remember facts and formulas, to demonstrating the scientific process2. Critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills will be explicitly taught in innovative and creative ways that help students master the TTA science curriculum. Courses include Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Physical and Earth Science.
• Social Studies Curriculum: The TTA Social Studies program is designed to help students understand their roots, see their connection to the past, comprehend their context in society, recognize the commonality of people across time, appreciate the delicate balance of rights and responsibilities in an open and diverse society, and develop the habits of thoughtful analysis and reflective thinking. The Social Studies curriculum prepares students in disciplines that are varied and diverse, including History, Anthropology, Economics, Political Science/Government, Geography, and Humanities. It will focus on strategies and activities that engage students with significant ideas and universal themes that encourage them to connect what they are learning to prior knowledge and current issues, to think critically and creatively about what they are learning, and to apply that learning to real-world situations. Social Studies will also afford TTA students increased opportunities to improve literacy skills.



Supplemental Curriculum. Math Lab, Tutoring, Leadership, Academic Advisory, Study Skills, and Career Success courses will help support students to succeed in the core content courses and graduate ready for college or the workplace.