Chapter 12
What is a School Improvement Process (SIP)?
A plan for future action that results from a school leadership team and review of current successes and needs
What is curriculum?
An environment created by the interaction of all of the elements that support learning: the content taught, the materials selected, the teaching strategies used, the learning activities in which children engage, and the way a school is organized
What six elements does Pennsylvania's curriculum framework obtain?
Big ideas; Concepts; Competencies; Essential questions; vocabulary; exemplars
How are state education standards established?
By a statewide committee consisting of teachers, school administrators, higher education faculty, and state policy makers
What are the two components of curriculum not seen in the basic subject areas?
Co/extra curriculum and hidden curriculum
What influences the curriculum at the school district level?
Community priorities and specific student needs
What are the three standards for career readiness according to the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE)?
Core academic skills and the ability to apply them; Employable skills; Technical job-specific skills related to a specific career pathway
Who decides what books are purchased for the district?
Curriculum committee of teachers, principals, parents, and perhaps higher education faculty
What are the seven steps to developing a curriculum?
Determine what needs to be learned and why; Describe the desired learning outcome(s); Select the specific content; Organize the content; Select the learning activities; Sequence the learning activities into a whole; Evaluate the effectiveness of the materials, instruction, and student learning
What is problem-based curriculum?
Focuses on authentic, contemporary problems
What is common core curriculum?
Focuses on key concepts and skills that are important to learning and further understanding
What is themed curriculum?
Focuses on teaching generalizations or big ideas that underlie various subjects
What country does Foundations look to as an example of college-ready v. career-ready split?
Germany
How do interest groups play a role in education?
Influence the national curriculum
What are interest groups?
Informal and formal organizations of individuals who hold a common interest and shared agenda in regard to a particular topic or policy
What is mastery curriculum?
Like core curriculum, but certain concepts and skills must be mastered in certain ways
What is a state adoption policy?
Limits financial support and selections to those textbooks that are included on a state-approved list
How do certain organizations contribute to the national curriculum?
Offer accreditation
How are the important elements of the curriculum emphasized?
On the test
Why are district curriculum guides helpful?
Relate learning from year to year
What were the three content areas of the subject centered curriculum?
Religion, Latin, and Greek
What is spiral curriculum?
Same as themed curriculum, but ideas are taught throughout all grades and become more in-depth and abstract as years go on
What resources do districts have to develop the curriculum and good teaching practices?
Specialists and generalists
What is standards-based curriculum?
Standards directly dictate curriculum with no organizational overlay
What are curriculum frameworks?
State only big ideas to be taught in specific subject areas
What is an open adoption policy?
State textbook adoption policy that allows each school district the autonomy to review and select whichever textbooks it chooses
What was the earliest form of curriculum in the US?
Subject centered curriculum
What influences the curriculum at an individual school level?
Teachers' beliefs about students; Student interests; Access to technology
What is an important informational source for teachers?
Textbooks
What are the two implications of the teacher delivering the curriculum in the classroom?
The teacher has the primary responsibility for helping students achieve the desired outcomes; Teachers have "a plethora" of resources to work with
What are the three sources of learning standards for subjects?
Those published by professional associations; Those developed within each state; The Common Core Standards
What are the five "value-laiden questions" asked when developing a curriculum?
To what extent should the learning outcomes support preserving a democratic society? Which outcomes are important for the individual learner's self-worth? Is the curriculum based in some way against certain individuals or groups? Will the curriculum be available to all, or is it too expensive, too hard to teach, or does it have components that are inaccessible to some? Is it built around the essential center of the discipline or is it composed of peripheral and isolated elements?
Which three questions are addressed by each curriculum development initiative?
What should be taught? Who should decide? How will it be taught?
What do court cases, state and federal legislation, teaching and content assessments, educational research, and textbook publishers determine?
What will be common in the national curriculum
