Designing Curriculum at Lang: A Framework for 2e Learners

At The Lang School, the curriculum is never one-size-fits-all. We know that twice-exceptional (2e) students bring unique profiles of strengths, challenges, and interests, and our program is designed to meet them where they are while guiding them forward. Every unit, lesson, and project is carefully designed with the dual goals of equity and authentic learning, ensuring that each student experiences rigor, relevance, and access.

A Backward Design Approach

Our curriculum is shaped by the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework, which asks teachers to begin with the end in mind. Instead of moving straight into lesson planning, faculty first identify the enduring understandings and essential questions that anchor a unit. These big ideas push beyond surface-level knowledge and help students connect their learning to larger concepts and real-world issues.

Once these goals are clear, teachers determine how students will show evidence of learning. Assessments are not limited to traditional tests—they include portfolios, projects, exhibitions, and reflections. Only then do teachers design daily learning experiences that prepare students to meet these goals. This structure ensures that curriculum is coherent, intentional, and tied to authentic outcomes.

Grounded in Standards and Benchmarks

While Lang’s curriculum is uniquely designed for 2e learners, it is also grounded in recognized standards and benchmarks to ensure rigor and coherence across grade levels. Faculty draw from the Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), C3 Framework for Social Studies, and nationally recognized benchmarks in world languages and the arts.

These standards give us a consistent roadmap for skill progression while still allowing flexibility for personalization and enrichment. They ensure that when Lang students move from one grade to the next—or eventually transition to college—they do so with a strong foundation that aligns with national expectations.

Core Curriculum Programs

Within this standards-based framework, The Lang School draws on a carefully curated set of research-backed curriculum programs that ensure both structure and coherence from grades 1 through 12. These programs are not chosen at random; they reflect best practices in literacy, numeracy, science, and history instruction, while still leaving room for teacher creativity, enrichment opportunities, and project-based learning. Together, they provide a clear scope and sequence across the Lower and Upper School so that students steadily build the knowledge and skills they need to thrive.

In the Lower School, early reading instruction begins with FUNdations, a structured phonics and decoding program that lays the foundation for literacy success. As students grow, this work is integrated with the Fishtank English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum, which uses rich, diverse texts to build comprehension and analytical thinking. Writing development is supported throughout by The Writing Revolution, which is carefully layered across the grades—from foundational sentence work in the early years to increasingly complex analytical and critical writing by upper elementary. By fifth grade, students also engage with Just Words, a program designed to strengthen fluency and accuracy for more advanced readers.

Mathematics follows a similarly intentional path. Fishtank Math provides the central progression, ensuring alignment with national standards, while Singapore Math supplements this sequence to deepen conceptual understanding and problem-solving. Science comes alive through Mystery Science, a program that emphasizes inquiry and hands-on exploration, while history is taught through teacher-created curricula that weave together historical content, literacy, and project-based investigations.

As students move into the Upper School, the curriculum shifts toward advanced skill development and college preparation while maintaining flexibility to meet the needs of twice-exceptional learners. In English Language Arts, students follow a scope and sequence grounded in CommonLit, beginning with identity and perspective-building in middle school and moving toward advanced argumentation, American literature, and rhetorical analysis in high school. Writing expectations also expand, from multi-paragraph structures in the middle grades to advanced academic writing and college-ready essays by the junior and senior years.

Mathematics builds steadily from Pre-Algebra in Grade 6 to Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Precalculus and Calculus in the upper grades, using Illustrative Math and the CPM Math Curriculum to balance conceptual rigor with accessible strategies. Both programs use  an inquiry-based approach, where students actively engage with problems and are guided to discover solutions through exploration and investigation. This helps students build resilience in facing difficult mathematical challenges and develop the ability to think critically and creatively. For students who demonstrate advanced mathematical ability and a desire to delve deeper into specialized topics, We offer individualized instruction that goes beyond the standard curriculum. These students receive personalized attention to explore more advanced and diverse branches of mathematics

The science program in grades 6-8 asks students to explore scientific concepts at a higher level of complexity. This phase emphasizes systematic inquiry and critical thinking while maintaining the curiosity-driven approach fostered in the Lower School. The focus is on introducing students to the fundamental concepts and methodologies of biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science, while strengthening their understanding of the scientific method. In grades 9-12, the science program offers students the opportunity to dive deeper into specialized scientific fields through advanced courses in astronomy, biology, molecular biology, chemistry, physics, and environmental science. The curriculum is designed to challenge students with more rigorous content while fostering independent research, critical analysis, and application of scientific concepts to real-world problems. 

History, too, follows a clear developmental arc, beginning with Ancient Civilizations, moving through Modern American History, and then expanding into Global History, Revolutions, and United States History. Each stage introduces students to broader perspectives and deeper critical thinking, preparing them for advanced study. The upper school program also provides students with a rich menu of elective courses that supplement and expand on the core curriculum.

Taken together, these carefully chosen programs ensure that Lang students build strong foundations in literacy, numeracy, science, and history while progressively developing the advanced, college-ready skills they will need beyond graduation. What makes Lang unique is how these programs are adapted for 2e learners—through differentiation, scaffolding, and integration with project-based learning—so that every student, regardless of profile, can access challenging content and grow into their full potential.

Integration with Lang’s Core Frameworks

While UbD provides the structure and these core programs provide coherence, our curriculum comes alive through two guiding frameworks:

• Project-Based Learning (PBL): Units are designed around real-world problems and driving questions that invite inquiry and collaboration. Students create public products—such as presentations, models, or performances—that demonstrate both mastery of content and creative expression.

• Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Each unit is built to offer multiple pathways for engagement, representation, and expression. This ensures that whether a student learns best by reading, building, writing, or presenting, they can access the material in a way that aligns with their strengths.

Together, PBL and UDL ensure that Lang’s curriculum is both authentic and accessible.

Reflection and Iteration

Just as we ask students to reflect on their learning, teachers at Lang engage in ongoing reflection and professional development. Faculty teams regularly review units to ensure alignment across divisions, coherence in skill development, and responsiveness to student needs. Portfolios and student exhibitions provide data not only on what students know, but also on how our curriculum can continue to evolve.

More Than Academics

Finally, curriculum design at Lang is about more than meeting standards—it’s about cultivating curiosity, resilience, and identity. By embedding social-emotional learning, executive functioning skills, and opportunities for self-advocacy into the curriculum, we prepare students not just to succeed in school but to flourish in the wider world.

Our Commitment

The result is a curriculum that is responsive, differentiated, authentic, and inclusive. At Lang, we believe students thrive when their learning experiences are connected to their strengths and passions while challenging them to stretch into new areas of growth. Our curriculum reflects that belief—helping students not only learn, but also discover who they are as thinkers, creators, and changemakers.