K-12 Curriculum Development

If K-12 curriculum development impacts "opportunity to learn," then teachers and administrators must create time to develop, assess, review and revise curriculum.  In business, the focus is on customer service.  In sales, the focus is on productivity.  In technology, the focus is on connectivity.  Each of these terms (customer service, productivity and connectivity) are also a priority for educators.  If educators create a hedgehog concept (Collins, 2001) of their main purpose they will continue to meet in collaborative teams to address "opportunity to learn."

Patrick (2006), wrote, "Every student should have access to the best education available, regardless of family income, background or geography.   Unfortunately, while some students will have access to a great education in their neighborhood schools - this is not universally true.  In fact 40 percent of high schools in the United States don't even offer a college preparatory curriculum" (p. 20).

What can school districts do to address "opportunity to learn?"  Please share strategies that have worked in your school or school district.

References:

Collins, J. (2001).  Good to great. New York: Harper Collins.

Patrick, S.D. (Autumn 2006). i.e. magazine.  New learning Models: Transforming curriculum and instruction in a digital age.

Parents often ask, “What are students learning in schools?  How is today’s high school different from the one I graduated from?  Are the schools preparing my child for life and work in the 21st century?”  The guiding mission of the North Carolina State Board of Education is that every public school student will graduate from high school, globally competitive for work and postsecondary education and prepared for life in the 21st Century.

Heidi Hayes Jacobs (2004) suggests that educators develop a timely curriculum, one that is both rigorous and relevant to the changing needs of our workforce and global economy.  As teachers meet in content-alike teams and district-level teams, they should continue to ask the following questions:  What is the purpose of this content?  How will these skills and/or concepts help students as they continue to pursue their goals beyond middle school and high school?  

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has identified the following characteristics of 21st Century Learning:

Global Awareness

Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy      

Civic Literacy

Health and Wellness Awareness

Critical Thinking and Problem-solving skills

Communication skills

Creativity and Innovation skills

Collaboration skills

Contextual Learning skills

Information and media literacy skills

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Literacy
(The ability to use technology to develop 21st century content knowledge and skills, in the context of learning core subjects)

Life Skills such as:  leadership, ethics, accountability, adaptability, personal productivity, personal responsibility, people skills, self-direction and social responsibility. 

For more information on 21st Century Learning Skills, visit: 

A Vision of K-12 Students Today (Teacher Tube Video)

How To Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century (TIME Magazine)

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

21st Century Skills English Map (NCTE)

21st Century Skills Map (NCSS)

Testing Our Schools explores the closely intertwined issues of Standards and Accountability. Standards are necessary, of course, and so is accountability, but are schools being backed into a corner? If they continue to live by test results, will they die that way? 'High stakes tests,' 'multiple test measures,' multiple opportunities to take tests– How these issues are resolved will shape the future of American public education.  This site shares multiple perspectives and views education policy from the presidential administrations of George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. 

References:
www.pbs.org/merrow/ 

Recently, I learned how to use Wordle.  Wordle allows teachers and students to create “word clouds” from text. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.  This site allows you to reflect and evaluate the power of words.  Users can type the text from key vocabulary, a favorite quote, a short passage or an entire speech.

Caution:
This site is addictive!

Example:
Curriculum

My personal experiences with curriculum mapping and observing the work of teacher teams in other school systems has led me to identify the following seven barriers to curriculum mapping.  With proper planning, scheduling and support from school administrators, each of these barriers can be removed.


1.  Time
2.  Beliefs
3.  Lack of Norms
4.  Determining What Matters Most
5.  Focus on the Product
6.  Failure to Reflect
7.  Failure to Communicate

To view full article, click on the attached document below.

seven_barriers_to_curriculum_mapping.doc
File Size:	52 kb
File Type:	doc

Download File

---

On March 10, President Barack Obama spoke at the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Conference in Washington, D.C.  To view a full transcript of his remarks, provided by the White House, visit Education Reform.  Since this site is designed for educators in the United States and abroad to discuss K-12 Curriculum Development, please share your thoughts on state standards versus national standards and on the President's recent remarks regarding education reform.

Excerpt from speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce:

"So let's challenge our states -- let's challenge our states to adopt world-class
 standards that will bring our curriculums to the 21st century. Today's system of
 50 different sets of benchmarks for academic success means 4th grade readers
 in Mississippi are scoring nearly 70 points lower than students in Wyoming --
 and they're getting the same grade. Eight of our states are setting their
 standards so low that their students may end up on par with roughly the
 bottom 40 percent of the world.

 That's inexcusable. That's why I'm calling on states that are setting their
 standards far below where they ought to be to stop low-balling expectations
 for our kids. The solution to low test scores is not lowering standards -- it's
 tougher, clearer standards. (Applause.) Standards like those in Massachusetts,
 where 8th graders are -- (applause) -- we have a Massachusetts contingent
 here. (Laughter.) In Massachusetts, 8th graders are now tying for first -- first in
 the whole world in science. Other forward-thinking states are moving in the
 same direction by coming together as part of a consortium. And more states
 need to do the same. And I'm calling on our nation's governors and state
 education chiefs to develop standards and assessments that don't simply
 measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they
 possess 21st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking and
 entrepreneurship and creativity.

"Curriculum is analyzed to find gaps - are there standards that have not been addressed?  Repetitions - are there topics in content that repeat without any significant changes in the material? Spirals - places where the curriculum spirals and builds in complexity?  Are thinking skills focused and to what level?"  These curriculum conversations help us to answer the question What do we want students to know and be able to do (p. xiii)?

References:

Kallick, B. & Colosimo, J. (2009). Using curriculum mapping and assessment data
            to improve learning.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Video:
An official update to the original "Shift Happens" video from Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, this June 2007 update includes new and updated statistics, thought-provoking questions and a fresh design. For more information, or to join the conversation, please visit http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com -- Content by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, design and development by XPLANE. 

What is Twitter?  According to the official web site, Twitter allows teachers, friends and family members to “stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?”

While Twitter does not provide the amount of information that a curriculum map gives each teacher and administrator, it could be used as a communication tool.  Professional educators could take advantage of this tool in an effort to provide ongoing communication about instructional decisions, pacing, teacher assignments, project deadlines and exam dates.

At the beginning of a new unit of study, teachers could update their Twitter statement (under 140 characters max. allowed).  An educator may type, “This week our Honors U.S. History classes are beginning World War I.  This is a five day unit.”  Another educator may type, “Our students struggled with Unit 3, so we are going to spend March 20-21 reviewing the key concepts identified in Unit 3.” 

As with other forms of professional communication (Email, Blogs, Discussion Boards, Education Chat Rooms, etc.), educators would need to make certain that they did not post unprofessional comments, mention student names or post what they are doing in their personal life.

If your school district is currently using Twitter as a form of ongoing professional communication, please share your experiences.

Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, March 8.  Most people associate the time change with longer periods of daylight.  However, in education this time signifies that another school year is coming to an end.  Teachers will begin grumbling, "I don't have time to teach it all!"  Following Daylight Savings Time are Snow Days, Early Release Days, Spring Break, Awards Assemblies and other disruptions to the written and taught curricula.  These barriers occur each year, but we continue to allow teachers to race to the finish line without modifying the local curriculum.


Items To Consider:

1.  Does our district have a 'guaranteed and viable curriculum'? (Marzano)

2.  If our district has a 'guaranteed and viable curriculum,' how do teachers
     communicate their individual decisions regarding 'what' to teach and
     what to eliminate in the time remaining?

3.  Does our district have a communication tool which allows teachers to
     share their thoughts on the pacing and the written vs. taught curriculum?

4.  Glatthorn (1987)recommends that school districts identify four kinds of
     objectives in the written curriculum:

a.  Mastery:  The teachers have agreed that all students should learn these
                     objectives, skills and concepts.

b.  Organic:   Just as important as the mastery curriculum, if not more.
                      It doesn't require highly structured organization.
                      Examples:  Appreciation of poetry, Develop a curiosity for the
                                        natural world, etc. 

c.  Team Planned:  The expectation is that departmental or grade-level teams
                               will plan this component, so that therre is no duplication
                               from year to year. 

d.  Student Determined:  The unstructured enrichment part that does not
                                          require specific planning, but can be left to the
                                          emerging interests of the students in a particular
                                          class.

Source:  Glatthorn, A.A. (1987). Curriculum Renewal, pp. 5-7.

5.  Identifying Essential Learning Outcomes:
   
    Doug Reeves recommends that educators focus decisions about what
    is ‘essential’  (i.e., state standards, concepts, skills, understandings)
    by using the following criteria:

     Endurance -  Will this standard provide students with knowledge and
                        skills that will be of value beyond a single test date?

    Leverage -   Will this provide knowledge and skills that will be of value
                        in multiple disciplines?

     Readiness for the next level of learning - Will this provide students
                        with the essential knowledge and skills that are necessary
                        for success in the next grade or the next level of
                        instruction?      

Source:  Reeves, D. (2002). The Leader’s Guide to Standards, pp. 49 – 52.

Additional Suggestions:

Curriclum Mapping             District/Teacher Forums              District Blog

Unpacking Standards         Professional Learning Community

Curriculum Audit                District Surveys on the Taught Curriculum/Pacing


Questions:

What strategies have you used to make certain that teachers and administrators teach the most essential curriculum, rather than trying to squeeze it 'all' into the final nine weeks of the school year?

Are teachers making these decisions in isolation or as a professional team?

 Are schools in the United States preparing students for life and work in the 21st century?  If schools within a state have a difficult time aligning their local curriculum to the state standards, then how aligned are the fifty states?  Are some students receiving a more rigorous second grade curriculum than their peers in other states?  Does an A+ in Algebra I mean the same in Massachussetts as it does in Mississippi?  Should the United States adopt national standards, or should states continue to develop the standards and objectives for public schools?

According to the Center for American Progress, "With more than 50 different sets of standards, there is no national measure/yardstick/ standard/benchmark for academic achievement at each of the grade levels. NCLB requires that states hold districts and schools accountable for getting all their students to 'proficient' achievement levels, but allows them to adopt their own definitions of 'proficiency.'"

"With the pressure to increase student performance, there has been counter pressure for states to game the system by lowering both standards and proficiency definitions...

...Only national curriculum standards and national definitions and measures of student performance at proficiency levels can prevent this behavior."

Do you agree with this statement? 

References:

The Case for National Standards, Accountability and Fiscal Equality
Center for American Progress (November 2005)

Additional Resources:

Achieve

NAEP: A Common Yardstick