K-12 Curriculum Development

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Time for a Tune-Up: Comprehensive Curriculum Evaluation
By Lisa H. Meyers
Principal Leadership - September 2005

"How important is a high-quality curriculum?  A school without a quality curriculum is like a car without an engine - neither goes anywhere.  One responsibility of a school administrator is to ensure that quality curriculum is designed, adopted, and implemented."
                                                                                                    - Lisa Meyers

Prior to this afternoon, I had not read this article.  This informative article provides educators with several key considerations for K-12 curriculum development, curriculum alignment, curriculum evaluation and renewal.  I highly recommend this article! 

For additional information related to curriculum evaluation and a curriculum audit, visit these K-12 Curriculum Development topics:

Curriculum Management Audit

Curriculum Clutter

Curriculum Development

Share your thoughts on
Time for a Tune-Up: Comprehensive Curriculum Evaluation

One of the first books that introduced me to curriculum development was Renewing the Social Studies Curriculum, by Walter Parker. 






Parker (1991) described a 'Home-Grown Curriculum.'  A 'Home-Grown Curriculum' "comes from the hearts and minds of people who actually work with children in the schools and on whose shoulders the burden of implementation lies" (p.v).

Too often, educators assume that state standards are the curriculum.  Erickson (2007) reminds us that "Academic standards are not a curriculum; they are a framework for designing curriculum.  A curriculum is a coherent, teacher-friendly document that reflects the intent of the academic standards" (p. 48).

Some educators believe that each teacher is a curriculum developer and that individual teachers know what is best for the students in their classrooms.  Both of these statements are true.  Teachers develop curriculum and they are the experts when it comes to the learning needs of their respective students. Anderson (2002) cited increasing evidence that a well-aligned curriculum has a considerable impact on student achievement and an even greater impact on achievement among minority students.  An aligned curriculum will provide clarity about instructional purposes and priorities.  In order to develop alignment in a school or in a school system, teachers cannot work in isolation.  I believe this is the type of work that Parker described in Renewing the Social Studies Curriculum.  While Parker's book is written for social studies educators, the concepts described in this book apply to all content areas.

If educators believe that curriculum development impacts student achievement, then we must ask the following questions:

1.  Do we have a 'Home-Grown Curriculum'?

2.  What are the benefits of a 'Home-Grown Curriculum'?

3.  If our district is required to use state and national standards to develop
     curriculum, do all teachers have the same interpretation of priorities in
     the standards?

4.  Does our school system have a document which outlines key concepts,
     key skills, enduring understandings and district priorities
     (i.e., a Guaranteed Curriculum)?

5.  "All learners benefit from and should receive instruction that reflects
     clarity about purposes and priorities of content" (Tomlinson &
     McTighe, 2006, p. 6).  How can Parker's description of 'Home-Grown
     Curriculum' development help our school system identify the curriculum
    that reflects clarity about purposes and priorities of content?
 
References:

Anderson, L.W. (2002). Curricular alignment: A re-examination. Theory into
      Practice, 41, 255-260.

Parker, W.C. (1991). Renewing the social studies curriculum.  Alexandria, VA:
      Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Erickson, H.L. (2007). Concept-based curriculum and instruction for the
      thinking classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Tomlinson, C.A., & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating differentiated instruction
      and understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision
      and Curriculum Development.

Author's Note:
I would like to thank Walter Parker for his influence on my career as an educator.  Renewing the Social Studies Curriculum provided me with a foundation in curriculum development and curriculum theory.  Since reading Parker's book, I have read several other books which describe curriculum development.  Parker's book is worn out and yet I still find new insight each time I revisit the book.  In my opinion, this book is timeless and it provides educators with the foundation for developing a 'Home-Grown Curriculum' which is aligned to state and national standards.  If the United States moves to a national curriculum or common core state standards, the art of deliberation and curriculum development will still be needed in school systems.  Renewing the Social Studies Curriculum is available for Free at ERIC or for purchase at Amazon.

Are curriculum documents accessible in your school system?  Do teachers know where curriculum documents are stored?  Can the curriculum be revised electronically or are the district's curriculum documents still stored in three-ring binders?



Location, Location, Location is frequently used by realtors to describe property that may be valuable to potential buyers.  Educators need to use this same phrase when they describe the location that K-12 curriculum is archived.  Some school districts use Microsoft Office products.  Popular vendor products which store curriculum documents include Curriculum Mapper, Curriki, Rubicon, TechPaths, and Understanding by Design.  This short list does not include all products available to educators, nor does it include an endorsement of any particular product. 

Our school district utilizes Drupal.  Drupal is a free software package that allows an individual or a community of users to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content on a website. Tens of thousands of people and organizations are using Drupal to power scores of different web sites.  If your school district is seeking location, location, location, but you are operating on a small budget, Drupal offers the opportunity for 24 hour access to your district's curriculum, the opportunity for ongoing communication within a school and across schools, and the chance for group editors to make timely revisions to the district's curriculum maps.

Questions For Educators:

1.  Do teachers and principals have access to the district's K-12 curriculum?

2.  Can the K-12 curriculum be modified using Web 2.0 tools or the Internet?

3.  Does the online tool which stores our district's K-12 curriculum allow for
     comments and reflection on the written, taught and assessed curriculum?

4.  Do teachers have access to multiple curriculum documents?
     (i.e., vertical alignment and interdisciplinary curriculum)

5.  Is the current tool teacher-friendly?

6.  Is the location a prime location or does the school district need to revisit the
     location of the district's curriculum documents? 

Have you ever heard the saying, "Curriculum development is messy"?  There are several reasons why curriculum development is viewed as 'messy'.


 


1.  Curriculum Development is a process.  It may take 3-5 years to develop a
     quality curriculum.  Most educators want to develop a product and they get
     tired with the process of curriculum development.

2.  Curriculum Development involves multiple perspectives.  When multiple
     perspectives are involved, the process becomes 'messy'.

3.  Curriculum Development involves values.  What do we value?  What will we
     choose to eliminate from the curriculum? What values will impact K-12
     curriculum and instruction?  Since values are not neutral, curriculum
     development is not neutral.

4.  Curriculum Development requires time.  It is difficult to develop a curriculum
     document in a school district, due to the limited time available to work with
     teachers.  You can work with teachers after school, but they are tired from
     teaching students from 8-4.  You can work with teachers on an Early Release
     Day, but there are limited Early Release Days in a school year.  You can work
     with a limited number of teachers during the summer and you can develop a
     quality curriculum, but you only have the input of a limited number of teachers.
     The lack of time available to work with teachers makes curriculum development
     messy.

5.  State standards are sometimes vague.  When teachers at the same grade
     level have multiple interpretations of a single state standard, it makes
     curriculum development and horizontal curriculum alignment difficult.
     Standards-based curriculum development is messy.

Curriculum development is a challenge and some school administrators would prefer to avoid the 'mess'.  If educators avoid curriculum development because it is 'messy', then students will receive a disjointed curriculum. 

"Curriculum development is the essential function of school leadership.  Whether the role is carried out by a principal, an assistant principal for curriculum, a team leader, a department head, or by leading classroom teachers, the curriculum defines all other roles in a school" (Wiles, 2009, p.2).

References:
Wiles, J. (2009). Leading curriculum development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
        Press.

Curriculum development takes place at the state department of education, at the district or central office, in classrooms, at the coffee shop and within profit and non-profit organizations. Curriculum development requires reflection, debate, multiple perspectives and input from multiple stakeholders.  The attached document outlines the research of Ralph Tyler, Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe, Larry Ainsworth, Douglas Reeves, Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, Lorin Anderson and other educators.  These educators each offer a criteria for developing and assessing curriculum.    

An essential act of our profession is the design of curriculum and learning experiences to meet specified purposes.
-  Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, Understanding by Design (1998), p. 7

What questions does your team use to assist with the development and assessment of K-12 curriculum?

Journalism students are taught to answer six questions in the articles they submit for publication.  The Five W’s and One H are well known to journalism students and educators.  Using this strategy, educators can clarify what they want to teach in a lesson or unit of study.  The questions below will assist educators as they develop lesson or unit plans. 

The Five W’s and One H for K-12 Curriculum Development:

1.        Who is the target audience?

2.       What state standards, skills and concepts will be taught?

3.       When will the unit/lesson be introduced to students (Dates/Pacing)?

4.       Where will the students be when they begin the unit/lesson
       (Prior Understandings/Misunderstandings)?

5.       Why do students need to learn the skills and concepts identified in #2?
       (Purpose/Relevance)

6a.       How will I teach this unit/lesson?
        (Instruction style, materials needed, technology needed, guest speakers,
         and other resources)


6b.  How will I assess student understanding of skills, concepts and identified
       enduring understandings?


This strategy is also an effective way for teachers to develop differentiated lesson plans and units.  This tool will support teachers as they identify ‘what’ students should know and be able to do, prior understandings and misunderstandings, and ‘how’ the lesson will be taught.  For additional resources on Differentiated Instruction, visit Differentiated Instruction – Tomlinson.

The attached chart will assist teachers and administrators in using the 5W’s and One H to develop and revise curriculum.

Curriculum development requires educators ask the following questions:

1.   What content is worth knowing?
2.   What concepts are worth understanding?  (Erickson, 2002)
3.   What skills are worth knowing?
4.   What should be left out of the curriculum or moved to a different part of the
      curriculum?
5.   Should the curriculum teach for Introduction, Review, Mastery or Deep
      Understanding at this grade level?  Where does the curriculum address this
      content, skill, or concept before or after this grade level or course?
6.   Will this standard or the curriculum provide students with knowledge and
      skills that will be of value beyond a single test date (Reeves*)?
7.   Will this standard or curriculum provide students with essential knowledge
      and skills that are necessary for success in the next grade or the next level of
      instruction (Reeves*)?
8.   What educational purposes should this course/the school seek to attain?
      (Tyler, 1949)
9.   What do we want students to uncover (Coverage vs. Uncoverage)?
      (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005)
10. Is the curriculum aligned with the criteria for 21st Century standards?
      See 21st Century Standards  

What criteria do educators in your school district or state use when developing K-12 curriculum?  

Do you agree or disagree with the criteria listed above?

A great article for K-12 Curriculum Developers was written by George Nelson (2001).  Nelson's article titled Choosing Content That's Worth Knowing provides educators and other stakeholders with essential questions for curriculum development.  To view the article online, visit  http://tiny.cc/VlwsR


K-12 Curriculum Development was developed as a site for educators to share ideas, discuss recent books about curriculum, share tools for supporting the work of teachers and administrators, and foster an online professional
learning community.   

References:

* Excerpted from Ainsworth, L. (2003). Power Standards, pp. 10-14, Englewood,
          CO: Advanced Learning Press.

Erickson, H. L. (2002). Concept-based curriculum and instruction: Teaching beyond
          the facts (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

In August (2009) SAS, the leader in business analytics software and services and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market, announced:

The new version of SAS® Curriculum Pathways®, is available at no cost to educators in all 50 states.  SAS Curriculum Pathways provides standards-based content in the core academic disciplines of English, mathematics, social studies, science and Spanish for grades 8-12. 

Normally, this site is not used to promote products. 
SAS Curriculum Pathways is FREE in all 50 states with no strings attached!

Listen to student and teacher comments.

Want to learn more about SAS Curriculum Pathways?

Register for a FREE subscription.

According to Phi Delta Kappa, "The Curriculum Management Audit is a third-party examination of the curriculum design and delivery system of a school or school district. Both curriculum policy and the system in which curriculum functions are analyzed by the audit team. The report provides specific recommendations to improve those functions."

According to Wiggins and McTighe (2007), "The job is not to hope that optimal learning will occur, based on our curriculum and initial teaching.  The job is to ensure that learning occurs, and when it doesn't, to intervene in altering the syllabus and instruction decisively, quickly, and often" (p. 55).

Examples of Curriculum Management Audits:

Anchorage School District (Alaska)

Clover Park School District (Washington)  

San Bernardino City Unified School District (California)

Wake County Public School System (North Carolina)

Frequently Asked Questions About the WCPSS Curriculum Audit

If your school district has completed a Curriculum Management Audit, please share your thoughts. 

How did it help you improve your work as an educator? 

What were the benefits of the Curriculum Management Audit? 

Did you conduct the audit through Phi Delta Kappa or did you develop a different evaluation instrument for your school district's curriculum audit? 

If curriculum alignment is the goal in most school systems, then why do districts fail to conduct a Curriculum Management Audit? 

School districts must confront the brutal facts of their current reality in order to improve (Collins, 2001).

References:

Collins, J. (2001). Good to great: why some companies make the leap and others
         don't.  New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2007). Schooling by design: Mission, action, and
        achievement. Alexandria, VA: Assocition for Supervision and Curriculum
        Development.