Governor Carcieri, right, talks with Education Commissioner Peter McWalters during a ceremony yesterday to unveil Rhode Island’s first statewide curriculum.

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL / Andrew Dickerman

WOONSOCKET — For the first time, Rhode Island has a statewide curriculum in reading, writing and math — a consistent, uniform learning plan for students in kindergarten through the 12th grade. Governor Carcieri and state education officials unveiled the Web-based guide yesterday at Woonsocket High School, calling it the missing piece in Rhode Island’s education puzzle.

Over the past several years, the state has set standards for each grade level and rolled out a statewide test two years ago. Until now, however, there has been no statewide guide to help teachers translate the standards into effective teaching techniques and approaches.“This is a great tool for districts to understand what it is we are measuring [on the tests],” Carcieri said. “It’s a tremendous resource.”

The state Department of Education spent two years and $300,000 developing the curriculum, drawing on input and expertise from about 125 teachers and administrators across the state, said Diane Schaefer, director of instruction, who oversaw the project.

Unlike a traditional curriculum that serves as a blueprint for what is taught in the classroom and can require certain textbooks, Rhode Island’s plan is more flexible and acts as a guide for teachers.

The curriculum includes descriptions of lesson plans that are linked to standards, analyses by teachers about what worked in the lesson and what did not, samples of student work and short video clips of effective teaching methods.

“This brings our state together,” said Patrick Guida, vice chairman of the state Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education. “A common curriculum will make it easier for teachers to teach and students to learn, especially if they move across district lines.”

Urban districts that have a high number of students moving during the school year have pushed for a statewide curriculum for that reason. Conversely, some suburban districts that have developed their own curriculum feared that a statewide learning plan would weaken their competitive curriculum.

In the end, the General Assembly passed a law in 2004 that called for a statewide curriculum, but left the decision to use it up to individual districts.

“Frankly, the legislation would not have passed if it had been mandatory,” said Marcia Reback, executive director of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, which advocated for the statewide curriculum. “In the state of Rhode Island, we have a tradition of local control. School committees, superintendents, principals and department heads all like to maintain their autonomy and shape their school’s program in order to help their students succeed.”

Guida, who also serves on the School Committee in Barrington, one of the state’s highest performing districts, praised the statewide curriculum because it allows flexibility in how it is applied.

“There is no need to fear,” Guida said. “There is plenty of opportunity for districts to enhance and augment these standards.”

RHODE ISLAND JOINS other states that have rolled out a statewide curriculum in recent years, including Utah and Georgia. Maryland adopted a voluntary program; states such as Texas and New York mandate statewide curriculum. Many countries in Europe follow a national curriculum.

“This really is an historic moment,” said Todd Flaherty, deputy commissioner of education. “When I came to Rhode Island from New York state in 1978 as a principal, I wondered where the curriculum was.”

Rhode Island’s education system was so fragmented in those days, some districts taught vastly different material from school to school, classroom to classroom. Schaefer said in a 2004 interview that in some Rhode Island districts, “the curriculum is a textbook.”

But with the requirements of the federal education No Child Left Behind law, that has changed. Schools face the pressures of yearly testing for grades three through eight and one high school year, and states have developed grade-level expectations and assessments that gauge how many students are proficient in English and math. Science tests will be required next year and the Rhode Island Department of Education has been developing a statewide science curriculum that will be rolled out this spring, Schaefer said. Other subjects will gradually be added, including civics and Rhode Island history.

But don’t look for paperwork designed to collect dust on a shelf. Instead, the state education department designed a Web-based curriculum that teachers, parents and students can access from their computers.

“We knew it needed to be meaningful,” Schaefer said. “It’s about what needs to happen in a lesson, teaching strategies, how to gauge the progress of students and how to look at student work and change instruction.”

Educators will continue to add lesson plans and video clips to the Web site, and the education department may add an interactive tool for teachers who want to exchange ideas and tips, Schaefer said. Brochures about the Web site will be sent to local libraries, and the state education department will work with local school districts to familiarize teachers with the curriculum.

Peter McWalters, Rhode Island’s commissioner of elementary and secondary education, said the Web-based format will allow teachers who are struggling with a particular subject or skill to observe effective teaching and study good lesson plans without fear of other teachers and administrators judging them.

“The whole country is focused on standards and on quality,” McWalters said. “If you are a classroom teacher, it is not automatically evident how to turn the new standards into lessons, especially if the standards are different from or higher than what you are used to.”

To explore the statewide curriculum, visit: www.ride.ri.gov/instruction/curriculum

jjordan@projo.com