The State of the Curriculum: Some Thoughts and Ideas

1
The State of the Curriculum Some Thoughts and
Ideas
Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development ASCD Annual Conference San Antonio,
Texas March 10, 2002
Presenter Elliott Seif Director,
Curriculum/Instruction Services Bucks County
Intermediate Unit 705 Shady Retreat
Road Doylestown, PA 18901 800 770 4822, extension
1421 eseif_at_bciu.k12.pa.us www.bciu.k12.pa.us
2
(No Transcript)
3
THE STATE OF CURRICULUM

• WHAT IS CURRICULUM?

4
What is Curriculum?

• From the Latin Curriculum, a racecourse or a
  chariot, which in turn comes from currere, to
  run. From this we also have the curricle, a
  two-wheeled chaise drawn by two horses abreast.
  As it is used today, curriculum refers to the
  today of courses offered by an educational
  institution, but the original meaning has not
  been entirely lost.

5
What is Curriculum?

• Teachers involved in a curriculum have the
  feeling of running around and around a race track
  but never getting anywhere. Some, after a hard
  day, feel as if they have been pulling a
  curricle, with the Superintendent, Principal, and
  two members of the School Board inside, urging
  them on.

6
PRINCIPLE 1 CURRICULUM IS THE CENTERPIECE
OF TEACHING AND STUDENT LEARNING.
7
Corollary to Principle 1 ITS HARD FOR A
TEACHER TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY FROM THE
SCHOOL CURRICULUM.
8
PRINCIPLE 2 CURRICULUM CHOICE AND VARIETY
(SOME PEOPLE CALL IT CHAOS) IS A FACT OF LIFE IN
THE AMERICAN CURRICULUM SYSTEM.
9

• PRINCIPLE 3
• To be proactive with its curriculum,
• each district must develop
• Its own internal curriculum
• renewal system
• A curriculum philosophy and vision.
• Powerful criteria for selecting
• and developing curriculum
• over time.

10
PRINCIPLE 4 (A controversial principle) UNDERST
ANDING AND PERFORMANCE SHOULD BE THE
DRIVING FORCE BEHIND CURRICULUM RENEWAL.
11
PRINCIPLE 5 CURRICULUM IS THE DRIVING FORCE
BEHIND INSTRUCTIONAL CHANGE (STAFF
DEVELOPMENT) AND AN ASSESSMENT SYSTEM.
12
PRINCIPLE 1 CURRICULUM IS THE CENTERPIECE
OF TEACHING AND STUDENT LEARNING.
13

• TODAYS CURRICULUM
• USUALLY INCLUDES
• Learning Goals
• Materials
• Suggested Instructional Strategies
• Embedded Assessments
• Technologies

14
Corollary to Principle 1 ITS HARD FOR A
TEACHER TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY FROM THE
SCHOOL CURRICULUM.
15
PRINCIPLE 2 CURRICULUM CHOICE AND VARIETY
(SOME PEOPLE CALL IT CHAOS) IS A FACT OF LIFE IN
THE AMERICAN CURRICULUM SYSTEM.
16
THE STATE OF CURRICULUM

• 15, 000 Districts.
• 49 of 50 states have standards.
• Myriad and variety of curricula in all subject
  areas.

17

• Some Societal Changes
• Shift to Information Age
• Social
• Environmental
• Scientific
• Technological
• Economic
• Global

18
THE STATE OF CURRICULUM

• MATH EXAMPLES
• COMMERCIAL PROGRAMS
• UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MATH
• CULTURAL LITERACY
• SAXON MATH
• MATH IN CONTEXT (MIC)
• CORE
• IMP
• PATHFINDER (COLLEGE BOARD)
• NEW STANDARDS

19
GOOD NEWS CURRICULUM CHOICE AND VARIETY
20
BAD NEWS CURRICULUM CHOICE AND VARIETY
21

• PRINCIPLE 3
• To be proactive with its curriculum,
• each district must develop
• Its own internal curriculum
• renewal system
• A curriculum philosophy and vision.
• Powerful criteria for selecting
• and developing curriculum
• over time.

22
CURRICULUM RENEWAL

• IS A VEHICLE FOR SELECTING THE MOST POWERFUL
  CURRICULUM PROGRAMS AND MATERIALS THAT MEET OR
  MATCH HIGH STANDARDS AND INCREASE ACHIEVEMENT.

23
CURRICULUM RENEWAL

• HELPS TO SELECT PROGRAMS AND MATERIALS THAT ARE
• MEANINGFUL
• COHERENT
• ARTICULATED
• ALIGNED
• PROMOTES HIGH STANDARDS

24
THE STATE OF CURRICULUM

• How does a district build a curriculum renewal
  infrastructure that supports high levels of
  performance and achievement?

25
THE CURRICULUM RENEWAL HANDBOOK
26
Critical Districtwide Curriculum Renewal
Components forDeveloping Effective Curricular
Programs

• Leadership Over Time
• Planning Process
• Actual Plan

• Curriculum Renewal Structure
• Adequate Resources
• Flexibility

27
Curriculum Renewal Process

• Planning
• Creating a Vision
• Analyzing Existing Program

• Planning for Action
• Revising the Program
• Implementation

28
Subject Area Curriculum Framework

• District Vision
• Subject Centered Vision
• Subject Centered General Curriculum
  Characteristics

• Scope and Sequence
• Course Guides
• Unit Plans
• Lesson Plans

29
Using Standards to Help Develop the Curriculum
Key Questions

• Organization of standards?
• Define key goals?
• Which standards should be priority?
• Connections between standards and current
  curriculum?

• Standards suggest what changes?
• How will students demonstrate successful
  learning?
• Criteria for success?
• Types of student work?
• Instructional stategies?

30
THE STATE OF CURRICULUM

• DEPENDS ON
• PERSPECTIVE
• AND VISION.

31
THE STATE OF CURRICULUM

• WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR SELECTING POWERFUL
  CURRICULAR PROGRAMS?

32
Multiple Criteria Exist

• Selection of curriculum is often done without
  consideration of clearly defined criteria

33

• How should a district decide on which
• Reading/English/Language Arts
• elementary program to purchase?

34
What are the criteria related to a core
knowledge curriculum?
35
What are the criteria related to the
selection of saxon mathematics program?
36
WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA RELATED TO THE
SELECTION OF PROGRAMS BASED ON THE NSTA
STANDARDS? NCTM STANDARDS? PROJECT 2061?
37
Examples of Places to Find Criteria for Selecting
Curriculum Materials

• Project 2061 (www.project 2061.org)
• Curriculum Handbook
• California State Department of Education.
• Core Knowledge Program

38
PRINCIPLE 5 (A controversial principle) UNDERS
TANDING AND PERFORMANCE SHOULD BE THE
DRIVING FORCE BEHIND CURRICULUM RENEWAL.
39
Newest Model of Curriculum Design Understanding
by Design

• BASED ON UNDERSTANDING, PERFORMANCE AND REAL
  LIFE LEARNING.

40

Youve got be careful if you dont know where
youre going cause you might not get
there! Yoga Berra
41
research on Learning and Cognition
Research on expertise suggest that a
superficial coverage of many topics in the domain
may be a poor way to help students develop the
competencies that will prepare them for future
learning and work. -
Bransford, et. Al., How People Learn, p 30
42
3 Stages of Backward Design
1. Identify desired results.
3. Plan learning experiences instruction.
43
PRINCIPLE 6 CURRICULUM IS THE DRIVING FORCE
BEHIND INSTRUCTIONAL CHANGE (STAFF
DEVELOPMENT) AND AN ASSESSMENT SYSTEM.
44
Staff Development
What are the most powerful models of staff
development? What types of staff
development best support curriculum
implementation?
45
Staff Development

• Curriculum development as staff development
• Staff development for curriculum implementation

46
Staff Development Options that Support
Curriculum Renewal

• EXAMPLES
• Curriculum development as staff development
• Staff development for curriculum implementation
• Data driven staff development
• Walkthroughs
• Teacher Study Groups

47
Resources

• ASCD Curriculum Handbook
• Research for Better Schools Handbooks
• Project 2061 and other curriculum selection
  materials
• Understanding by Design

48
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over
again and expecting different results.
49

• SUCCESS IS A JOURNEY,
• NOT A DESTINATION

50

• A JOURNEY OF A
• THOUSAND MILES
• BEGINS WITH A
• SINGLE STEP.