Deceomber 4, 2025
Curosity Corner 13
Curiosity Corner
Vermont’s Education Quality Standards (EQS) are a government rule authorized by the State Board of Education. They are a set of guidelines that establish learning and teaching values and provide direction to school districts as they develop curricula, choose learning materials, and design instructional and student well-being practices. They describe what a high-quality education should look like for students attending Vermont’s public schools.
The EQS was updated recently and implemented on July 1, 2025 to ensure that all Vermont students are afforded educational opportunities that are substantially equal in quality and are equitable, anti-racist, culturally responsive, anti-discriminatory, and inclusive, thus enabling each student to achieve or exceed the performance standards approved by the State Board of Education.
To achieve these ends, the Hartford School District is working towards an integrated curriculum that weaves together culturally responsive learning, trauma-informed education, social and emotional learning, proficiency-based learning, Universal Design for Learning, and restorative practices The Integrated Curriculum is what teaching and learning might look like when we start with educational equity at the center of the design process.