K-12 Curriculum Development

From the Top 10 Sports Plays of the Decade to the Top 10 News Stories of the Decade, every interest group seems to have a list. The Best of the Decade lists that I have read include stylish clothes, most downloaded songs of the decade, art that inspires, negative behavior which made the news, government decisions, technology advances, local news stories, top blunders, and other success stories.

One thing that is often overlooked on the Top Ten Lists I reviewed is the field of education.  To date, I have not seen a list which focuses on the past ten years in education.  Since this site maintains a focus on K-12 Curriculum Development, I created a list titled, Best of the Decade: 2000-2010.  For a complete listing of award recipients, please view the attached document.

Nomination Categories:

Biggest Impact on Education
Website That Influenced Education and Influenced How Teachers Work
21st Century Leadership
Best Collaboration by Government and Policy Makers
Biggest Change in Public Schools
Best Invention for Increasing Opportunity to Learn
Book of the Decade
Best Article
High Yield Education Initiative
Best YouTube Video About Education

As with most Top 10 Lists, the readers can think of dozens of other individuals, events, or organizations which should have made education's Best of the Decade List.  If you feel like your favorite person, event, organization, or journal article should have made the list, please add a comment on the site.  I enjoyed reflecting on the past ten years in education and I hope this list encourages you as much as it did me.  Some true landmark events and changes to the field of
K-12 eduction took place between 2000-2010.  I look forward to viewing your feedback!

View Colbert Report
Aired on October 5, 2009

View this short clip for a a little laughter and an interview with Secretrary of Education Arne Duncan.  Since 1997, Colbert was the longest-tenured and most diverse correspondent on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." He helped the show win numerous Emmy and Peabody Awards as an on-air personality and writer for the news satire. "The Colbert Report" has been touted by The New York Times as "one of the best television shows of the year" and praised as "The Best Show of the Year" by Entertainment Weekly. "The Colbert Report" has garnered ratings and critical success as one of the top shows on television.  

This week, I had the privilege of attending the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) Conference in St. Louis, Missouri.  At the pre-conference, I attended a full day session with Ken Kay, President of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. 

Kay asked the following question:

Are we intentional about teaching 21st century skills?

This question is much more difficult to answer than "Are we teaching 21st century skills?"  The follow-up question K-12 curriculum developers need to ask is "Which skills are we teaching and how does our school and school system measure progress towards predetermined goals?"

Other Key Questions shared by Ken Kay:

1.  Will students leave our school district with skills that add value to their
     employer and to the workforce?

2.  What skills will we need to teach students in order to help them "add value" to
     their employer or to the workforce?

3.  How do you take a school system that is teaching core subjects/content and
     help the teachers make the transition to teaching 21st century skills in the
     core subject areas?

4.  If you decided that students need to become 'globally competent,' what steps
     would teachers and administrators need to take?

5.  What is the current reality in our school district?  
     Do teachers say they are teaching 21st century skills?  
     Is an assignment in the computer lab still considered a lesson which reinforces
     21st century skills? 
     Do teachers reinforce skills as students move upward through the school
     system?

Additional Resources for K-12 Curriculum Development:

Route 21 - Resources for 21st Century Skills

Route 21 - Rubrics and Implementation Tools

The MILE Guide: An Online Self-Assessment Tool for Schools and Districts

West Virginia Department of Education - Teach 21

Nearly fifty years ago, Jerome Bruner wrote:

"If the hypothesis.....introduced is true - that any subject can be taught to any child in some honest form - then it should follow that a curriculum ought to be built around the great issues, principles, and values that a society deems worthy of the continual concern of its members."

                                                    -  Jerome Bruner, The Process of Education, 1960

This statement is as true today as it was in 1960.

Questions for Educators to Consider:

1.  Can any subject be taught to any child in some honest form?

2.  What do we expect all students to know and be able to do?

3.  Do we have a process for identifying Essential Learning Outcomes for each
     course?

4.  Do we have a clearly defined purpose for each course? 
     (i.e., Thinking with the end in mind)

5.  What current events, local issues, or community norms should be included in
     the curriculum?

6.  Is the role of this course to prepare students with academic knowledge or do
     we want to develop students who can apply their understanding of content in
     an ethical manner?

7.  Should each teacher identify what students should know and be able to do or
     should teacher teams or district teams work together to establish a common
     curriculum?  What would Bruner recommend?

8.  Should curriculum focus on state standards or should it go beyond the state
     standards to include locally determined Essential Learning Outcomes?

9.  Is everything identified in the curriculum of equal importance?

10.  What impact, if any, does it have on students if our school system has not
       developed a curriculum built around the great issues, principles, and values
       that a society deems worthy of the continual concern of its members?


Teachers are more likely to implement a curriculum that has grown out of their own conversations and meetings, that allows for teacher autonomy and that represents their own beliefs about what should be taught - 
See Home-Grown Curriculum.


References:

Bruner, J. (1960). The process of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
         Press.