Science Curriculum System
Designed and delivered a digital-first, NGSS-aligned science curriculum system for Grades 5–8 at a public charter middle school — built from scratch in Year 1 of the program. Its mapped scope spans 8 thematic cycles across 37 instructional weeks per grade, 400+ generated Google Form assessments, 100 Canvas LTI student pages, and 63 custom HTML5 interactive simulations. Automated checks protect structural consistency; they do not replace subject-matter, assessment-validity, browser, accessibility, privacy, or legal review.
System Architecture
End-to-end data flow from cycle configuration to teacher dashboard.
Source of truth
- config/cycles/*.json
Content generation
- curriculum/grade-*/cycle*/week*/
- forms.gs → Google Forms
- student-page.html → Canvas LMS
Scheduled collection
- 5:30 PM → ResponseCollector.gs
- 6:00 PM → DataAggregator.gs
- Friday → Weekly summary
Analysis & MTSS
- data/student-support-tiers/output/
- tier2-students.json
- tier3-students.json
Delivery
- Teacher dashboard
Weekly Structure
Each week follows a 5-component, 100-point assessment architecture.
Hook
Anchoring phenomenon introduction. Introduces a real-world question that frames the week's investigation.
Station 1
Core concept exploration. Students build foundational understanding through guided investigation and data analysis.
Station 2
Applied investigation. Deepens understanding through simulation, modeling, or data interpretation activities.
Station 3
Synthesis and application. Students connect concepts to the anchoring phenomenon through CER writing and analysis.
Exit Ticket
Formative checkpoint: 2 new questions, 2 spiral review, 1 integration + SEP. Feeds the automated MTSS pipeline.
System Features
12 integrated subsystems that run the curriculum.
100% NGSS Alignment
All 59 Middle School NGSS performance expectations are represented in the system’s mapping across 8 cycles. This is a coverage claim, not a claim that every published lesson or assessment has passed expert validity review.
Google Forms Assessment Engine
400+ auto-generated Google Form assessments via Apps Script. Shared libraries (FormUtils.gs, DataUtils.gs) eliminated boilerplate and accelerated form deployment; each form follows validated templates.
Canvas LTI Student Pages
100 inline-styled student pages built for Canvas LMS's CSS-stripping LTI environment. Pure inline hex colors, canonical shared templates, fleet-wide sync enforcement.
Custom HTML5 Simulations
63 interactive simulation artifacts cover phenomena from thermal energy transfer to plate tectonics. Static contracts check accessibility-related structure and contrast targets; representative browser and assistive-technology verification remains required.
Automated MTSS Pipeline
Nightly data collection at 5:30 PM, aggregation at 6:00 PM, weekly summaries on Fridays — replacing manual tier assignment. Auto-assigns Tier 1/2/3, flags misconceptions at 30%, triggers whole-class reteach at 40%.
79-Validator Quality Gate
Pre-commit and CI/CD validation suite: point totals, exit ticket structure, Canvas LTI compliance, WCAG accessibility, DOM architecture, NGSS references, design tokens, and more.
29 Automated Fixers
One-Button Fleet Sync (OBFS) applies 12 sequential fix categories fleet-wide. Repairs structural compliance across 100+ pages after standard updates (e.g., CDG v4.3 to v4.4).
Accessibility & UDL
Accessibility-informed patterns include alt text, contrast targets, 48px touch targets, labeled controls, and tiered scaffolds. These safeguards reduce known risks without representing the full fleet as accessibility-certified.
ELL & Bilingual Support
Bilingual glossaries (English/Spanish) in every student page, sentence frames for scientific writing, vocabulary pre-teaching. 570+ terms with verified Spanish accent accuracy.
AI-Augmented Development
Purpose-built for Claude Code with custom MCP integration. Implemented 12 slash commands and CLAUDE.md context management, reduced form deployment time from 30+ minutes to 2 minutes.
CI/CD Pipeline
GitHub Actions with 60% runtime reduction via stage parallelization. PR feedback loops under 3–4 minutes across 1,000+ merged pull requests.
Continuously Updated Documentation
60+ documentation files governed by DOCUMENTATION-INDEX.md (v2.40). LESSONS-LEARNED.md captures 17 categories of institutional knowledge. Content Design Guide at v4.4.
Sample Anchoring Phenomena
Every week begins with a real-world question that frames student investigation.