K-12 Curriculum Development

As we begin preparing for another school year, teachers and administrators will benefit from reading one or more of the following resources.

Are You a Graduate of the John Wayne School of Leadership?
By Peter M. Smith

Dealing with the Challenging Employee
By John Baldoni



Good to Great – Short Video Clips and Excerpts from the Book
By Jim Collins

How to Create a Shared Vision Statement
By Dan McCarthy

Nelson Mandela: His Eight Lessons of Leadership
By Richard Stengel

On the Frontier of School Reform with Trailblazers, Pioneers, and Settlers
By Phillip Schlechty

Our Iceberg Is Melting – Dealing with Change
By John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber

Team Leaders in a Professional Learning Community
By Robert Eaker and Janel Keating

The Culture Builder
By Roland Barth

Triangle Leadership Academy - Tools for Leaders

After you read an article, feel free to post your thoughts on the K-12 Curriculum Development blog.  Have a great school year!

Common Sense was published anonymously by Thomas Paine in January 1776. The purpose for this small pamphlet was to encourage change and to urge the American people to form their own government.



The purpose of this article is to offer some common sense advice which will impact K-12 education in any country. 

IN the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense; and have no other preliminaries to settle with the reader (Paine, 1776).

Education:

• Students don't care how much we know until they know how much we
  care.
  
  
• A guaranteed and viable curriculum is a critical factor to educational
  success.
  
  
• Each student adds value to the classroom and to the school.
  
  
• Character education makes the world a better place.
  
  
• A focus on learning is more important than 'coverage' of standards.
  
  
• Curriculum alignment should not be optional.
  
  
• Closing achievement gaps is ethical and possible.
  
  
• Differentiated instruction is good for all students.
  
  
• Instruction which builds on prior knowledge increases student
  understanding.
  
  
• Opportunity to learn has a greater impact on student achievement than
  the written curriculum.

*  Many different researchers have noted the items above and have
    described how student achievement increases when one or more of the
    processes or viewpoints are implemented.  For example, Marzano (2003)
    shared, the number one factor impacting student achievement is a
    guaranteed and viable curriculum (p. 22).  “Standards alone cannot
    change these realities.  Instead, successful change occurs when all
    aspects of the local curriculum are linked to standards through a
    purposeful, coherent system of process and products” (Carr & Harris,
    2001, p. 1). Wiggins and McTighe (2007) wrote, “Schooling at its best
    reflects a purposeful arrangement of parts and details, organized with
    deliberate intention, for achieving the kinds of learning we seek” (p. 9). 

         Please feel free to share your Common Sense recommendations
                                      for K-12 education.

References:

Carr, J.E., & Harris, D.E. (2001). Succeeding with Standards: 
      Linking Curriculum, Assessment, and Action Planning.
      Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
      Development.  

Marzano, R.J. (2003). What working in schools: Translating
      research into action.  Alexandria, VA: Association for
      Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Paine, T. Common sense (1776). The Library of Congress.
      Retrieved July 14, 2009, from 
         http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm028.html

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, G., (2007) Schooling by design.
     Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
     Development. 

Each year, Major League Baseball conducts a draft where the best amateur players in the world are drafted and offered professional contracts.  This year's draft included high school graduates and college student-athletes.  The number one draft pick was a player who can pitch 98-103 mph.  During the draft, announcers shared each player's strengths and weaknesses, along with highlight videos of each player.  According to the announcers and The Sporting News, a five tool player is what scouts search for when they watch amateur athletes.  While it is rare to find a five-tool player, scouts use the five tools as a measuring stick to find the best baseball players in the world.

As an educator and baseball fan, I asked myself, "What makes a five-tool teacher?"  While there have been numerous books written on effective teaching, classroom management, and teaching for understanding, the purpose of this article is to develop a hypothetical tool which rates teachers similar to a scout rating baseball players.*

The Five Tools:

1.  The ability to develop positive relationships with diverse students

2.  The ability to develop curriculum and provide instruction which supports the
     learning style of each student

3.  The ability to create a positive and safe learning environment (a.k.a.,
     Classroom management)

4.  The ability to create differentiated instruction and assessment

5.  The ability to collaborate with other professional educators

*  The five tools are qualities of good teachers and one could argue that a
    teacher with all five tools would be an asset to students and to a school
    system.  However, the purpose of this article is to create a discussion, not to
    establish a research-based tool for recruiting and retaining highly-qualified
    teachers.

Please feel free to add a comment or leave your own list outlining the Five Tools of a Professional Teacher.

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.