Orinda Union School District

Educational Services/Curriculum & Instruction

Our instructional approach

We are a learning community that inspires, engages, and supports ALL students.

At Orinda Union School District, our approach to instruction is grounded in standards-based teaching and learning. We are committed to ensuring that every student thrives academically, socially, and emotionally. Instruction is designed to be inclusive, engaging, and rigorous—creating opportunities for all students to access, process, and demonstrate their learning. To do this, our educators work collaboratively in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) that are focused on student learning and continuous improvement.

Our instructional practices are guided by four essential PLC questions:

What do we want our students to learn?
How will we know if they have learned it?
What will we do if they haven’t learned it?
What will we do if they already know it?

These questions serve as the foundation of our work—driving instruction, assessment, intervention, and enrichment across all grade levels and subject areas.

Essential Standards

To address the first question—What do we want our students to learn?—our educators have collaboratively identified essential standards for each grade level and content area. While all grade-level standards are taught, essential standards represent those that are most critical to long-term student success.

These standards:

Have endurance, providing value beyond a single unit or grade
Offer leverage, connecting across disciplines and future learning
Indicate readiness, preparing students for the next level of instruction

Essential standards help guide decisions around time, resources, and instructional focus—ensuring clarity and consistency in what students are expected to learn.

Assessment & Instructional Response

While essential standards define the what, PLC questions 2, 3, and 4 support the how. Teachers use formative and summative assessments, differentiated instruction, and responsive teaching practices to meet the needs of every learner.

Through a variety of assessment tools—formative checks, performance tasks, classroom observation, and summative assessments—educators gain insight into student understanding (PLC question #2).

These data inform instructional next steps, enabling teachers to design targeted supports for students who need more time and instruction (PLC question #3) and opportunities for deeper learning and enrichment for those who have already mastered the content (PLC question #4).

At Orinda Union School District, we believe that all students can learn at high levels, and we are dedicated to working collaboratively to make that belief a reality through thoughtful, student-centered instruction and a shared responsibility for learning.