In The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, Maxwell (2001) wrote, "Every team needs a vision to give it direction.  A team without vision is, at worst, purposeless.  At best, it is subject to the personal (and sometimes selfish) agendas of its various teammates.  As the agendas work against each other, the team's energy and drive drain away" (p. 91).  He describes this as the Law of the Compass.



Questions for School Districts:

1)  How do we determine the essential learning outcomes for each student?

2)  How do we monitor student progress towards essential student learning
     outcomes?

3)  Does our school system have an aligned curriculum or does each teacher
     determine the essential learning outcomes in isolation?

4)  Does the written curriculum drive the work of teachers and teacher teams?

"Curriculum design and delivery face one fundamental problem in schools.  When the door is shut and nobody else is around, the classroom teacher can select and teach just about any curriculum he or she decides is appropriate" (English, 2000, p. 1). 

Wiggins (1995) wrote, "Curriculum guides must become more like a compass and a sextant - performance tasks and standards and troubleshooting guides.  We need more than a well-planned set of work requirements and supporting lesson ideas; we need clarity about how courses can help students attain objectives in the face of various adventures and detours.  That adjustment depends on knowing in advance the specific performance destination: the tasks students should be able to perform, and to what standard, as a result of our teaching" (p. 110).

References:

English, F.W. (2000). Deciding what to teach and test: Developing, aligning, and
        auditing the curriculum. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. 

Maxwell, J. (2001). The 17 indisputable laws of teamwork.  Nashville, TN: Thomas
        Nelson, Inc.

Wiggins, G. (1995). Curricular coherence and assessment: Making sure that
        the effect matches the intent. Beane, J.A. (Ed.). Toward a coherent
        curriculum: The 1995 ASCD yearbook. Alexandria, VA: Association for
        Supervision and Curriculum Development. 


 


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