Curriculum and Assessment

It is our mission to empower every learner to thrive. In our school district, learner means everyone…students, teachers, and families as well as community members.

For us, thriving is more than just academic success. It also includes skills that go beyond the classroom.  This is why Bismarck Public Schools aligns its curricular program to the North Dakota state standards as well as life and work-ready skills.

BPS strives to create and support learning experiences that are relevant and meaningful (we sometimes say “authentic”).  These might be anything that occurs in or outside of a classroom with the goal of helping learners gain knowledge and skills. Our teachers work hard to intentionally personalize these experiences for learners. This means that we purposefully get to know your child, and are always looking for ways to help them find a personal connection to school.

In doing this, we track and communicate your learner’s growth regularly. While we have online systems that you can learn more about, families are always encouraged to reach out directly to their child’s teacher with individual questions related to their learner.

Bismarck Public Schools is dedicated to actualizing the potential of all learners by providing them with individualized academic support.  In order to best achieve this, the district employs a Standards Based Education model for students in grades K-8. In order to fully grasp student instruction and assessment within a Standards Based framework, there are some key terms you should know.

Bismarck Public Schools’ curriculum is the North Dakota state standards, life and work ready skills, that’s a lot!  Since there are many things for our learners to experience, we do our best to make sure that learners are focused on the most important things.

We also work hard to ensure that every learner, no matter which school or classroom they’re in, gets the same intentional opportunities to engage in quality learning.  This is why we have teams of teachers called guiding coalitions from multiple schools that work together to prioritize and align learning across our district.

This collaborative process results in Prioritized standards which are those standards identified by teachers as being the most important things learners need to know and be able to do to be life and work ready.  Every teacher at BPS focuses learner experiences on these prioritized standards.

BPS uses standards-referenced reporting to provide information about your learner’s progress.  This means that teachers can tell you specifically how your learner is doing on each of our prioritized standards.  

At elementary and middle school, teachers use the proficiency scales to generate a standards-referenced report that allows learners and their families to track learner progress on the prioritized standards.  At high school, your learner’s letter grade reflects their current progress on the prioritized standards.

As a BPS parent, you will have access to an online portal where you can access detailed information regarding your learner’s progress on all the important things they need to know and be able to do. Your school secretary can help you set up your parent account. And you can always contact your learner’s teacher(s) directly if you have questions or concerns.

Everyone at BPS is focused on ensuring that every learner is empowered to thrive.  In order to effectively communicate clear and consistent expectations for every learner (and their families), our teachers also work together to create proficiency scales for the prioritized standards. If your learner has an individualized plan, their team will work with you to identify appropriate accommodations and modifications to these learning goals.

A proficiency scale communicates the progression of what learners need to know and be able to do for each prioritized standard.  Teachers use these scales to plan learning experiences that support where learners are, and help them build more skills and understandings.  Students use proficiency scales to track their growth and identify their next opportunities for learning - and as a parent or family member you can do the same!

At elementary and middle school, teachers use the proficiency scales to generate a standards-referenced report that allows learners and their families to track learner progress on the prioritized standards.  At high school, your learner’s letter grade reflects their current progress on the prioritized standards.  As a BPS parent, you will have access to an online portal that will allow you to monitor your learner’s progress with data that comes directly from teacher grade books.  Your school secretary can help you set up your parent account. And you can always contact your learner’s teacher(s) directly if you have questions or concerns.

We’re lucky to have a wide range of courses and experiences for learners in our system, and we’re constantly working on refining the curriculum in all areas.  This site currently represents core courses that are necessary for learners to successfully earn a BPS diploma.

Elective and other course experiences will be coming online as they are vetted and available.  We always welcome input and questions and BPS teachers are always happy to answer any questions you have.