Westonka has a strong system in place to routinely review and evaluate the effectiveness of all instruction and curriculum.

Academic benchmarks established for all grade levels: All Westonka curriculum is aligned to state and national standards. When new state and/or national standards are released, curriculum teams meet and establish power benchmarks. Power benchmarks are specific outcomes that each student is expected to master and they drive instruction in the classroom. Pacing charts, which describe how and when the power benchmarks will be taught, are also developed during this process.

The district follows a curriculum review cycle calendar to keep its curriculum and programming relevant for student learning. All academic areas are reviewed and revised over a seven-year cycle.

The review cycle provides time to review current curriculum/programming and identify strengths and gaps. Even though all state academic standards are taught at each grade level, Westonka uses a process to identify “power benchmarks,” which articulate the academic standards that will be given more focus and emphasis over other standards. Pacing charts are established to articulate how the new curriculum is to be implemented and learning targets are created to explain to students what will be taught and assessed.