ABOUT THE ALMA PROJECT

ABOUT THE ALMA PROJECT

The Alma Curriculum and Teacher Training Project

The Alma Curriculum and Teacher Training Project was made possible with funding from a Goals 2000 Partnerships for Educating Colorado Students grant awarded to the Denver Public Schools in July 1996. The Project is currently funded by the Denver Public Schools.

The intent of the Project is to have teachers in the Denver Public Schools develop instructional units of study (ECE–grade 12) on the history, contributions, and issues pertinent to Latinos and Hispanics in the southwest United States. Other experts, volunteers, and community organizations have also been directly involved in the development of content in history, literature, science, art, and music, as well as in teacher training. As instructional units are developed and field-tested, feedback from teachers is extremely valuable for making any necessary modifications in the topic development of future units of study. Each instructional unit is based on the best scholarly information available and is tied directly to the state and district Academic Content Standards. The scope of the materials includes the history of indigenous peoples in the Americas, contacts of Spanish explorers in the New World, exploration of Mexico and areas of the present-day United States, colonization of New Mexico and southern Colorado, and contemporary history, developments, events, and issues concerning Latinos in the southwest United States. The instructional units also address areas that need to be strengthened in our curriculum with regard to the cultural and historical contributions of Latinos and other predominant ethnicities represented in the Denver Public Schools’ student body.

The Project has reaped numerous benefits from partnerships with various colleges and universities. We hope to continue to secure agreements with curriculum experts from various institutions and teachers to work directly with the Project. As the Project continues, these partnerships will allow us to broaden the range of topics to be developed.

Basic Premise of the Project

This curriculum innovation will serve several major purposes.

It will provide the opportunity for every teacher in the Denver Public Schools to integrate fully developed instructional units (ECE-12) tied to state and district standards into the curriculum at every grade level in language arts, social studies, history, art, and music.

It will broaden a teacher’s ability to teach a more inclusive and accurate curriculum.

The instructional units will facilitate the infusion of the cultural and historical contributions of Latinos and other predominant ethnicities represented in the student population.

The Project will have a positive effect on the engagement and achievement of Latino students in the Denver Public Schools and other districts that utilize these resources or replicate the project.

A formal link has been developed between the Denver Public Schools and various colleges and universities throughout the state of Colorado.

The instructional units were developed by teachers (ECE-12) from the Denver Public Schools beginning in March 1997. The Denver-based Mid-Continental Regional Educational Laboratory (McREL) provided a standards-based framework that is used in the development of the instructional units.

Alma instructional units are currently available on the Alma Project Web site.

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