As a teacher and curriculum developer, do you ever feel like you are in a race against time? At some point, most educators ask the question 'Is everything important?' How do teachers and administrators in your school district make decisions about what is most worth knowing? Curriculum development cannot be done in isolation if educators are seeking curriculum alignment, a purposeful curriculum, and a guaranteed and viable curriculum (Marzano).
“Any curriculum aiming for student understanding requires uncoverage of the material – inquiring into, around, and underneath content instead of simply covering it” (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998, p. 98). According to Brandt, "designing lessons for understanding begins with what we want students to be able to do and proceeds to the evidence we will accept that they have learned it”
(in Understanding by Design, p. vi).
Before there can be a rational curriculum, we must settle which things it most concerns us to know.....
- Herbert Spencer
What Knowledge is of Most Worth (1854)
Seven Questions for Educators to Address:
1. What should students know and be able to do as a result of this course?
2. What concepts and skills will every teacher at a specific grade level
'guarantee' to teach?
3. What will each teacher commit to doing when students do not learn the key
concepts and skills for this course?
4. How will teachers in our school district communicate with each other
regarding curriculum and instruction? (Online Curriculum Mapping, Early
Release Days, Common Planning Period, Professional Learning Community,
Periodic Curriculum Audit, K-12 Writing Folders, etc.)
5. Does the current recommended pacing outlined by our district allow enough
time for student mastery of the key concepts and skills?
6. How can classroom teachers provide input when they see a gap in the
district's curriclum or when the pacing needs to be adjusted in order to
support student understanding?
7. Former college football coach Lou Holtz describes W.I.N., an acronym he used
with his teams. W.I.N. stands for What's Important Now (Holtz, 1998,
Winning Everyday: The Game Plan for Success ). At this point in the school
year, What's Important Now (W.I.N.) in your course? Would all teachers and
administrators provide the same answer?
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