Three new subjects in Alberta’s draft curriculum are ready for piloting.

Science, French first language and literature, and French-immersion language arts and literature will be piloted in the fall, with school divisions having until June 6 to opt-in.

According to LaGrange, over 34,000 online surveys were completed by Albertans from March 2021-March 2022 in order to garner feedback.

The curriculum has seen some changes, says LaGrange, including updates to “content load, age appropriateness, wording, clarity, as well as First Nations, Metis, and Inuit content.”

She also listed some changes specific to these three pilot-ready courses, including emphasizing the connection to nature and digital literacy in science, and strengthening of Francophone perspectives in French first language and literature and French-immersion language arts and literature.

The draft curriculum has been divisive over the last several years of its creation, with a majority of Alberta school divisions declining to pilot courses last fall.