The Mesa Public Schools offer quality educational programming, innovative instructional practices, and comprehensive curriculum to approximately 70,000 students. The Curriculum and Instruction division emphasizes the following five critical areas:

Quality Curriculum: The first element, comprehensive, quality curricula, is the foundation upon which a student's educational program is developed. Mesa curriculum is designed to reflect the content area's Strategic Curriculum Review process and to align with the Arizona Academic Standards. On the average, curriculum is revised by teachers and content specialists and reviewed by a parent advisory panel approximately every seven years.

Instructional Materials Support: Providing teachers with quality materials to effectively teach is the second element of emphasis for Mesa's quality curriculum offerings. A comprehensive process is exercised when selecting appropriate instructional materials for grade levels and/or courses. Teachers, specialists, administrators, parents, and community partners all have a significant role in defining the criteria for selection and the actual selection process itself. For questions regarding specific materials adoptions, please contact the appropriate content area department.

Assessment: Assessment aligned to authentically measure student achievement is the third component of Mesa comprehensive curriculum offerings. The Mesa Public Schools assess major learning outcomes through a variety of assessment measures, including teacher-designed assessments, district-designed end-of-semester/year criterion-reference tests, and state-mandated assessments like the TerraNova (nationally standardized achievement test) and Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS). The district's Research & Evaluation department processes many of the assessments used and provides quality data analysis tools for teachers and administrators

Professional Development: The inclusion of a comprehensive plan for on-going, continuous professional development for teachers is also a responsibility of the Curriculum and Instruction division. Division and content area leaders work with teachers to identify, develop, schedule, implement, and evaluate professional development offerings in the district. See the Professional Development department Web page for the current listing of offerings as well as take advantage of the 24-hour registration process.

Administrative and Community Support: The Curriculum and Instruction division has developed numerous infrastructures to gain and maintain administrative and community support of curriculum and instruction offerings. Mesa has enjoyed a long history of support from both administrators and the community as is evidenced by the division's numerous awards and achievements.