By: Emily Gilmore Hurwitz

On July 1st, 2025, a new era of education in Vermont began. Building off of Act 77 in 2013, the updated Education Quality Standards (EQS) empowers schools and educators to better meet each student’s cultural, linguistic, and academic needs. The updated EQS reads like a love letter to teaching. The standards reflect the complexity of the experiences families and students have across Vermont and weave together the many, seemingly disparate, initiatives schools have undertaken for many years into one cohesive vision.

Thanks to The Vermont Community Foundation and The New Teacher Fund, Great Schools Partnership is excited to share the Integrated Curriculum for Vermont Educators (ICVE), a free resource for all to use that takes the components of the EQS and models how the standards can blend together.

What is the Integrated Curriculum for Vermont Educators

Over the past year, educators around Vermont have been collaborating to design model units for Kindergarten-12th grade, in English Language Arts, Essential Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies content areas. The curriculum is offered as a model for educators and school districts to pull from as they reflect on and design their own learning. The Integrated Curriculum is comprised of vertical alignment matrices that highlight where Vermont priority performance indicators live across the K-12 learning experience, as well as curriculum maps with model essential questions, performance indicators, sample units, and suggested content topics. 

Finally, ICVE provides resources for the educational frameworks we see embedded within the EQS: Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education, Social and Emotional Learning, Trauma-Informed Education, Universal Design for Learning, Restorative Practices, and Proficiency-based Learning.

In the upcoming months, we will also be offering a workshop series for Vermont educators on integrating ICVE into your schools- sign up here to be the first to know when registration is live!