K-12 Curriculum Development

Judie Haynes is the author and co-author of five books on helping classroom teachers with their second language population: Getting Started With English Language Learners,Newcomer Program Grades K-2,Newcomer Program Grades 3-6, Classroom Teacher's ESL Survival Kit #1,and Classroom Teacher's ESL Survival Kit #2. She also co-authored a chapter in TESOL's Integrating Standards into Classroom Practice.

Twenty-Five Quick Tips for Classroom Teachers provides practical suggestions for the mainstream classroom teacher.  

Educators may also review Getting Started with English Language Learners by Judie Haynes for free. This book will provide you with basic concepts and can't-miss strategies for boosting the achievement of English language learners whether you are new to teaching ELLs or an old hand. 

America’s public schools enroll about 5 million English language learners (ELLs) – twice the number from just 15 years ago, and that number is expected to double again by 2015. English language learners are the fastest growing group of students in the United States today (Source:  National Education Association).  

Teaching to the Test: Is it a best practice or education malpractice?  Since the introduction of high-stakes testing, educators have attempted to weigh the benefits versus the consequences of teaching to the test.  Some educators argue that teaching to the test is unethical.  In most states, teachers can lose their teaching license if they are caught teaching to the test.  However, if you are teaching in a standards-based education system (all 50 states in the U.S.), then teaching the standards could be viewed as teaching to the test.  If teaching to the test means that students have been exposed to the standards and there are no surprises on the End-of-Grade or End-of-Course test, then this practice could be viewed as ethical.

James Popham (2001) wrote an informative article titled, Teaching to the Test: High Crime, Misdemeanor, or Just Good Instruction.  Popham suggested that educators should "immediately expunge the phrase 'teaching to the test' from our educational lexicon, forcing folks to say either 'teaching to the test's items' or 'teaching to the knowledge/skills' represented by the test."

Common Problems with "Teaching to the Test":
1.  Curricular Reductionism
A narrow focus on the tested subjects or excluding certain skills and concepts because they cannot be measured on a multiple-choice test

2.  Covering standards (a.k.a. "Coverage")
Wiggins and McTighe (2005) discuss the Twin Sins of Curriculum Development and they call the twin sins coverage-focused teaching and activity-focused teaching.  In today's high-stakes era of testing and accountability teachers feel pressure to 'cover' material, rather than teach for understanding.  Covering material may indicate that a teacher has taught content or checked off each state standard, but it does not mean that student understanding took place.

3.  Test Prep Activities
In defense of classroom teachers, I have rarely met a teacher who enjoys "Drill and Kill" test prep for the final month of the school year.  By looking at the faces of students, it appears that drill and kill lessons take the joy out of learning.  If you have ever visited a low-performing school or a school that is focused on increasing test scores at all costs, then you have probably witnessed Test Prep Activities.  Some Superintendents even praise principals who raise test scores using these practices.  While test prep activities may increase scores, the activities rarely transfer to student understanding or transfer of learning.

Conclusion:
I could cite over 20 problems with "teaching to the test", but educators already understand the problems and know the solution to many of these problems.  As Popham suggested, "teaching to the test" is a phrase with multiple meanings.  As we enter the second semester of the 2009-2010 school year, I encourage educators to have this conversation in each school and each school district.  What do we mean when we say "teaching to the test?"  What are the 'benefits' of teaching to the test?  Does "teaching to the test" help all students?  Do we want to teach to the test or teach for student understanding?  What are the consequences of spending the final month of school on test review and test prep activities?  Is teaching to the test a best practice or education malpractice?

Final Thought:
"Whatever else Opportunity to Learn (OTL) may entail, it must surely encompass a consideration of the content taught.  Students can scarcely be said to have had an opportunity to learn content they never encountered" (Moss, 2008, p. 19).  If Teaching to the Test means that every student in a school district receives the state and local curriculum and that the curriculum is not reduced to tested subjects or tested items, then I favor teaching to the test.  Student achievement should not be dictated by a zip code, student assignment, board policies, teaching practices, tracking, or school leadership. 


Please feel free to share your thoughts on testing and accountability, teaching to the test, and other thoughts you have on these important topics and policy issues. 

Upcoming Webinar Hosted by Richard and Rebecca DuFour
November 24, 2009

Free Webinar
Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Doing Whatever It Takes to Improve Student Learning
Hosted by Richard and Rebecca DuFour

Wednesday, December 16, 2009
4:00 PM - 5:00 p.m. EST
Register today!

This webinar examines the practices of schools that have used the professional learning community (PLC) process to help struggling students become proficient and to enrich and extend the learning for students who are already proficient. Learn the big ideas that drive the work of a PLC, examine some of the necessary cultural shifts, identify the parameters that lead to effective intervention and enrichment, and review the results from elementary, middle, and high schools serving diverse student populations throughout the United States.

Recently, I addressed the need for K-12 educators to identify their purpose or their goals.  Such goals must guide curriculum development and instruction.  The next step after identifying curricular goals is to develop assessments which measure the received or understood curriculum.  In a recent article, Popham (May 2009) wrote, "The time has come to do more than merely talk about desirable outcomes.  It's time to measure them" (p. 86).  Assessing Student Affect addresses the need to assess what educators have determined is important. 

This brief article shares how student affect and other learning goals can be measured.  The next step may be revising the written and taught curriculum in order to ensure that your district's curriculum and instruction is meeting the intended purpose(s).  We can hope that students learn the skills and concepts that will make them successful contributors to society.  However, most educators agree that an end-of-grade or standardized test is not the most appropriate method for determining if learning goals have been achieved.  How does your school measure what matters most?

Reference:

Popham, W.J. (2009). Assessing student affect. Educational Leadership, 66(8),
       85-86.