What best describes a PreK-12 academic curriculum geared towards student understanding?

A PreK-12 academic curriculum aimed at fostering student understanding is best characterized by its focus on principles and concepts that create a cohesive continuum. This approach emphasizes the interconnectedness of knowledge across different grades and subjects, allowing for deeper comprehension rather than isolated facts. By centering the curriculum around fundamental themes and essential questions, students can engage with the material in a meaningful way, facilitating transfer of learning through various contexts and experiences.

This focus on principles and concepts ensures that the curriculum promotes critical thinking and application skills, enabling students to build on what they have learned as they progress through their education. It also supports a more integrated learning experience, as students are encouraged to see the relationships between different areas of study, which is essential for developing a holistic understanding of complex topics.

Other options, while they may address important aspects of a curriculum, do not capture the comprehensive and integrative nature that characterizes a curriculum designed for deep understanding. For example, merely organizing content for breadth does not guarantee the depth of understanding, and being responsive to community values, while important, does not inherently focus on academic cohesion. Utilizing diverse resources enhances learning but does not in itself define the overarching curricular structure aimed at student comprehension.