On Sept. 8, the Bethlehem Area School District Board Curriculum Committee convened, led by Dr. Jack Silva, assistant superintendent for education and chief academic officer.

The main focus of the meeting was to give an update and review of Roadmap 2.0, the district's proposed plan for increasing academic achievement in schools.

Fully titled "Roadmap 2.0 to Educational Excellence – One Child at a Time," the plan "identifies academic goals and data indicators that guide our mission to educate the whole child."

The mission statement of the plan reads: "The Bethlehem Area School District in partnership with the home and community is committed to providing a safe and supportive environment in which each student will attain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to become a productive citizen and lifelong learner in our technologically demanding and culturally diverse society."

The plan aims to improve student, teacher and parent performance in the district while maintaining the district's financial integrity through nine contributing frameworks: Pennsylvania Common Core Standards, Response to Instruction & Intervention (RtII), Comprehensive Literacy/Reading Apprenticeship, Personalization: Career Pathways/Problem-Based Learning, Advanced Placement Equity & Excellence, United Way Community Schools, Restorative Practices, Leader in Me (a transformational program to encourage student leadership), and No Place for Hate (an initiative of the Anti-Defamation League to challenge prejudice and bigotry).

Emphasizing the strategic diversity of the proposed plan, Silva said, "It's not if you're smart, it's how you're smart." He intends the plan to provide learning strategies tailored for the individual, as opposed to strict, sweeping curricular guidelines.

Other topics of the meeting included the Ready to Learn Block Grant, the Title I School Intervention Grant for Lincoln ES, the Keystone STARS Grant Initiative, and the Annual Measurable Achievement Objective (AMAO) Improvement Plan.

The Ready to Learn Block Grant provides funding to school districts for implementing educational initiatives that encourage student success. The BASD has applied for this grant and "intends to use these funds to maintain six full-day kindergarten classes, purchase additional instructional materials for reading and mathematics, and support contracted services for full-day kindergarten coaching."

The Title I School Intervention Grant will be used at Lincoln to implement its School Level Plan, which will develop literacy strength, goal setting, and leadership in the classroom.

The Keystone STARS Grant Initiative will fund early learning programs in elementary schools, improving affordable and high-quality care in fifteen child care centers in the district.

The AMAO Improvement Plan seeks to greatly improve English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) education in the district. The district's board of school directors approved the plan and awaits approval from the secretary of education in order to implement it for the 2014-15 school year.