Curriculum alignment is often viewed as a ladder. In theory, each rung on the ladder represents a new grade level and when students reach the top of the ladder they should be prepared for the next step which is life beyond high school. One of the dangers of building a curriculum based on the wrong motives is that students may climb the ladder only to find the "ladder is against the wrong wall" (Covey, Merrill & Merrill, 1994, p. 138).
Mistakes To Avoid When Building a K-12 curriculum:
1. Curriculuar Reductionism:
A curriculum which emphasizes courses with mandatrory state and
national tests at the expense of other courses may omit important life skills
and may not engage every student. A second flaw to this approach is that
some courses are only tested at designated grade levels. If social studies is
not taught in K-5, but there is a state test in grades 8, 10 and 12, will
students value social studies? Will students be prepared for the state tests
by having social studies de-emphasized in favor of other tested courses?
2. Activity Oriented:
When activities are the central focus of a curriculum, "there are no explicit big
ideas guiding the teaching and no plan for ensuring the learning" (Wiggins &
McTighe, 2005, p. 3). Developing activities which promote student
enthusiasm and interest in a topic is a rewarding experience. However,
activities can serve as a barrier to learning and student understanding when
educators focus on the activity rather than the key concepts, key skills and
enduring understandings. Wiggins and McTighe (1998, 2005) recommend
"Backward Design" as a strategy for developing curriculum which teaches for
understanding.
3. Content-Based:
When teachers and administrators build pacing guides, they often focus on
content and omit the key concepts, key skills and enduring understandings.
"Unless teachers [and administrators] consciously identify these
understandings, they focus on the fact-based content as the endpoint in
instruction, and the conceptual level of understanding usually is not
addressed" (Erickson, 2002, p. 49).
How to Assess If Your Ladder is Leaning on the Right Wall:
1. What educational purposes should the school [this course] seek to attain?
2. What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain
these purposes?
3. How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?
4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?
(Tyler, 1949, p.1)
Another method for making decisions during the curriculum development and review process is outlined in the attached chart titled Purpose-Driven Curriculum and Instruction (Weber, 2007).
Curriculum Developers must continue to ask,
"Is the ladder leaning against the right wall?"
References:
Covey, S.R., Merrill, A.R., & Merill, R.R. (1994). First things first. New York.
Simon & Schuster.
Erickson, H.L. (2002). Concept-based curriculum and instruction: Teaching
beyond the facts. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Tyler, R. (1949). Basic principles of curriculum and instruction. Chicago, IL:
The University of Chicago Press.
Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J.(2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Alexandria,
VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
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