K-12 Curriculum Development

 
 
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Does your school system have an established method or strategies which assist teachers and administrators in determining the K-12 curriculum?  Each year, parents send their children to school with the hopes that the teachers and the educational experiences offered will prepare students for the next grade level and for life in an ever changing, interdependent world.  Should each teacher determine the curriculum?  According to DuFour (2004), “Despite compelling evidence indicating that working collaboratively represents best practice, teachers in many schools continue to work in isolation. Even in schools that endorse the idea of collaboration, the staff's willingness to collaborate often stops at the classroom door” (p. 8).  

The following strategies will assist collaborative teams of professional educators in unwrapping state standards, prioritizing curriculum, aligning skills and concepts which spiral throughout the curriculum, and most importantly begin a conversation about the essential curriculum (a.k.a., Power Standards – See Ainsworth).  Select one strategy and begin developing your plan for students.

Strategies for Determining the K-12 Curriculum

I.  Unwrapping Standards: 

“Unwrapped standards provide clarity as to what students must know and be able to do.  When teachers take the time to analyze each standard and identify essential concepts and skills, the result is more effective instructional planning, assessment, and student learning” (Ainsworth, 2003, p. 1).

For the process, seeUnwrapping Standards: A Simple Process to Make Standards Manageable (Ainsworth, 2003)

II.  Curriculum Mapping:

“Choosing important knowledge, sequencing it well, and getting it behind every classroom door in every grade” is an important part of ensuring that all students receive a rigorous and relevant education (Parker, 1991, p. 84).

For the process, see Mapping the Big Picture: Integrating Curriculum and Assessment K-12 (Jacobs, 1997).

See Using Curriculum Mapping and Assessment Data to Improve Learning (Kallick & Colosimo, 2009)

III.  Identify Declarative and Procedural Knowledge:

Jane Pollock (2007) distinguished between declarative (content mastery) and procedural (skill mastery) knowledge.  She wrote, “In a curriculum document, the statements of declarative knowledge (facts, concepts, generalizations and principles) are identified by the words understands or knows” (p. 35) that “serve as placeholders for active verbs, which translate into activities and experiences that help students organize declarative knowledge.”  For procedural knowledge, a statement of student learning would begin with “a verb that describes the steps that need to be practiced to attain automaticity such as add, compose, sing, draw, or graph” (p. 36).  The latter requires extensive repetition and practice.  Does your school system’s curriculum clarify the difference between declarative and procedural knowledge which is guaranteed to be taught at each grade level?

IV.  Clarify Content Priorities:

“Because we typically face more content than we can reasonably address, and because it is often presented as if everything were equally important for students, we are obliged to make choices and frame priorities” (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 70).

Planning Tool - See Figure 3.3 (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 71).

V.  Use Dr. Reeves’ Criteria for Identifying
      Power Standards:

a)  Endurance     b)  Leverage    c)  Readiness for the
                                                 next level of learning

Use the following question: 
What do your students need for success – in school (this year, next year, and so on), in life, and on your state tests” (Ainsworth, 2003, p. 14)?

VI.  Determine What You Won’t Teach:

Jacobs reminds educators, “Given the limited time you have with your students, curriculum design has become more and more an issue of deciding what you won’t teach as well as what you will teach.  You cannot do it all.  As a designer, you must choose the essential” (as cited by Ainsworth, 2003, p. 12).

Conclusion:

Wiggins and McTighe (2005), wrote, “In the absence of a learning plan with clear goals, how likely is it that students will develop shared understandings on which future lessons might build” (p. 21)?  If your school system does not have a common curriculum, select one of the strategies above and watch student achievement soar.

References:

Ainsworth, L. (2003). Power standards: Identifying the
       standards that matter the most. Englewood, CO: Lead +
       Learn Press.

Ainsworth, L. (2003). Unwrapping the standards: A simple
       process to make standards manageable. Englewood, CO:
       Lead + Learn Press.

DuFour, R.(2004, May). What is a professional learning
       community? Educational Leadership, 61(8), 6-11.

Jacobs, H.H. (1997). Mapping the big picture: Integrating
       curriculum & Assessment K-12. Alexandria, VA:
       Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

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

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

Pollock, J. E. (2007). Improving student learning one teacher
       at a time. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision
       and Curriculum Development.

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design:
      Expanded 2nd edition. Alexandria, VA: Association for
      Supervision and Curriculum Development. 
 
 
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Do opposing forces prevent your school system from aligning the curriculum?  Opposing forces include time, co-workers, competing district initiatives, changes in leadership, and the failure to define the purpose for curriculum alignment efforts.  Educators are aware of the need for curriculum alignment, yet most school systems struggle with making curriculum alignment an ongoing process.

A planning tool named the Force Field Analysis will provide your team with valuable data regarding the opposing forces which interfere with curriculum alignment efforts.  The Force Field Analysis is a simple but powerful technique for building an understanding of the forces that will drive and resist a proposed change. 

The attached document provides a template for teachers and teacher teams.  The Force Field Analysis can also be used for other educational goals which are difficult to achieve due to opposing forces. 

Additional information regarding this tool is available at:
Force Field Analysis


force_field_analysis.doc
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Smedley said, "A speech without a purpose is like a journey without a destination" (as cited by Koegel, 2007, p. 34).  The same can be said about curriculum development.  A curriculum without a purpose is like a journey without a destination.  Do the teachers and administrators in your school system have agreed upon learning outcomes for students at the end of each grade level?  Do teachers and administrators have time scheduled throughout the school year to discuss which instructional strategies are working with certain grade levels or even with individual students?

The list below contains several of the skills and understandings that most teachers and parents would agree students should develop during the K-12 experience(s).  If a parent moved from another state or country and asked teachers in your school district which skills and understandings are taught in the seventh grade, would the parent receive the same answer from teachers at three different middle schools?

Using the list below, add skills and understandings that you feel are missing.  Are some of the identified skills more essential than others?  Should some of the skills be taught in each grade, K-12?  Should some of the skills be deemphasized due to the skills required by a changing workforce?  Most importantly, what is the purpose for including each of these skills or understandings in the K-12 curriculum?  Is your district's current curriculum meeting its intended purpose?  What can be done to realign the district's curiculum in order to meet the agreed upon purposes during the 2009-2010 school year?

1.   Citizenship     
2.   Geographic Awareness     
3.   Decoding Skills
4.   21st Century Learning Skills     
5.   Presentation Skills
6.   Writing Skills     
7.   Problem Solving Skills
8.   World Languages
9.   Literacy Skills
10. Self-Awareness
11. Character Education
12. Healthful Living
13. Personal Financial Literacy
14. Apply Mathematics in a variety of settings
15. Communication Skills
16. The Arts
17. Career Development
18. Interview Skills
19. Critical Thinking Skills
20. How to Apply Skills and Understandings     

"All learners benefit from and should receive instruction that reflects clarity about purposes and priorities of content."
                                                        -  Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe

References:

Koegel, T.J. (2007). The exceptional presenter. Austin, TX: Greenleaf Book Group
         Press.

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

Thoughts for Teachers and Teacher Teams:

When you close the classroom door, how do you make decisions about 'what' to teach?  Do you use the same criteria for making decisions as your co-workers?  How do you decide what to assess?  Do your co-workers assess the same skills and concepts?  How do you make critical decisions about the state standards and pacing?  How do you communicate your decisions within your school?  How do you communicate your decisions within your school district (across schools)?  Is the taught curriculum aligned across schools in your district?  How do you know?

"If schools want to enhance their organizational capacity to boost student learning, they should work on building a professional community that is characterized by shared purpose, collaborative activity, and collective responsibility among staff" (Newmann & Wehlage, 1995, p. 37).

Reference:

Newmann, F., & Wehlage, G. (1995). Successful school restructuring: A report to the public and educators by the Center for Restructuring Schools. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
 

 
 

During the curriculum development process, educators will experience change and various strategies will require that educators have a clear understanding of the differences between first order change and second order change
(See Figure 6 - Waters, Marzano, & McNulty, 2003).

"Assuming that all changes will have the same implications for all stakeholders, and/or using practices that might be appropriate for a first order change when a second order change is actually implied for stakeholders, will likely result in a negative impct on student achievement.  Thus, in addition to focusing leadership efforts on school and classroom practices associated with improved student achievement, leaders must also tailor their own leadership practices based on the magnitude or 'order' of change they are leading" (Waters, Marzano, & McNulty, 2003, p. 7).

Questions for Educators:

1)  How does the chart (Figure 6) change your views on curriculum development
     efforts?

2)  Does curriculum mapping involve first order change, second order change, or
     both?

3)  How do educators determine if a program or initiative will involve first order
     change or second order change?

4)  Reflect on a time during your career in education when an initiative failed or
     was not as successful as it could have been.  Did teachers and administrators
     focus on the product, rather than the process?  Would a careful analysis of
     first order change versus second order change provided the leaders with
     insight on how to support teachers, administrators and the change effort?

5)  How can educators use this research to impact student achievement?

Reference:

Waters, J.T., Marzano, R.J. & McNulty, B.A. (2003). What 30 years of research tells us about the effect of leadership on student achievement. Aurora, CO: Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning. 

 
 

Benefits

1)  Improved Alignment

2)  Improved Communication

3)  Increased Relevance

4)  A Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum

5)  Equitable for all Students

What Does Research Tell Us About Purpose-Driven Curriculum?

Working on the Work (W.O.W.) entails teachers' purposefully creating, designing, identifying, or otherwise making available to students authentically engaging activities, programs, tasks, assignments, and opportunities to practice that result in students learning those things it is determined that students need to learn to be judged well educated.

                                                       -  Phillip Schlechty, Working on the Work (2002)

Many educational programs do not have clearly defined purposes.

                           - Ralph Tyler, Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction (1949)

Leadership involves purposes and direction.  Leaders know the ends toward which they are striving.  They pursue goals with clarity and tenacity, and are accountable for their accomplishments.

As cited by Robert Marzano in School Leadership that Works: From Research to Results. Leithwood, K.A. & Riehl, C. (2003). What do we really know about successful school leadership? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago. 

The attached document outlines Purpose-Driven Curriculum and Instruction (Weber, 2008).



what_is_a_purpose-driven_curriculum.pdf
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Recently, I read a book written by Malcolm Gladwell titled, Outliers. Gladwell (2008) wrote, "Marita doesn't need a brand new school with acres of playing fields and gleaming facilities. She doesn't need a laptop, a smaller class, a teacher with a PhD, or a bigger apartment......All those things would be nice, of course. But they miss the point. Marita just needed a chance" (p. 268-269).

Gladwell suggests that superstar athletes are given access to good coaches, private lessons, and additional opportunities.  This quote made me struggle with answers to the following questions.

Questions for Educators:

1.  What does it look like when all students have a chance or an "opportunity to
     learn?"

2.  What role does K-12 curriculum development play in providing each student
     with an "opportunity to learn?"

3.  What policies and procedures need to be developed in order to guarantee
     that each student receives the "opportunity to learn" a guaranteed
     curriculum?

4.  Is it ethical for sixth graders at School A to receive a different curriculum
     (key concepts, skills, understandings) than the sixth graders at School B?

5.  If the opportunity to learn is critical to student success, why don't educators
     discuss "opportunity to learn" on a regular basis?

Please share your thoughts.

 
 

According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000),

“A curriculum is more than a collection of activities: it must be coherent, focused on important mathematics, and well articulated across the grades.  A school mathematics curriculum is a strong determinant of what students have an opportunity to learn and what they do learn.  In a coherent curriculum, mathematical ideas are linked to and build on one another so that students’ understanding and knowledge deepens and their ability to apply mathematics expands.  An effective mathematics curriculum focuses on important mathematics – mathematics that will prepare students for continued study and for solving problems in a variety of school, home, and work settings.  A well-articulated curriculum challenges students to learn mathematical ideas as they continue their studies.”

This is a powerful definition of curriculum that could be applied to any content area.  As a K-12 curriculum developer, I am always humbled by the term opportunity to learn.  If curriculum development plays an important role in determining what students will learn at each grade level and impacts an individual’s opportunity to learn, then we must increase our efforts to develop quality curriculum, communicate about the curriculum, assess the curriculum, and make certain that our efforts do not result in a three-ring binder which is placed on the bookshelf in each teacher’s classroom. 

What is your definition of curriculum?  Does your school have a common definition?  What are the benefits of having a common starting point when defining and developing curriculum?

 
TWITTER 03/06/2009
 

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.