Instructional Practices for Standards-Based Curriculum
Running head: INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES FOR STANDARDS-BASED
Instructional Practices for Standards-Based Curriculum
Brandi R. Woods
Grand Canyon University
EDA 561 - Curriculum Development for School Improvement
October 24, 2010
Instructional Practices for Standards-Based Curriculum George W. Bush put into action the No Child Left Behind Act to ensure that all children were giving the right education and succeeding. With this, many states adopted a standard-based curriculum approach that required for all schools to have a state-wide test for accountability. This has definitely influenced and changed the teachings of many schools (Wiles & Bondi, 2007). With the standards-based curriculum being adopted by many states, it means that the curriculum has become simplified and geared towards test taking. Most teachers are used to this testing and do not know anything else or know any other way to teach except to the test. The curriculum gives a list of expectations that each child should master. A lot of subjects are not seen as important such as electives (music, art, foreign language, etc.) (Wiles & Bondi, 2007). Some teachers have seen this movement as hard because they want to be able to teach their students so much more than just a test. They believe that they cannot have fun in teaching anymore. Once the state has set the standards, it is up to the local district to develop programs and test all students for achievement on the certain standards. The next step is to create categories by topic and then further to define the topics with content. Scope and sequence lists, curriculum maps and frameworks are then created by groups of teachers, who are given sample lesson plans and materials to use to key their own lessons to the standards. The final step of this process is to create aligned standards-based tests and then hold districts, schools, and teachers accountable for the defined standards. Educators, in general, agree that there should
Instructional Practices for Standards-Based Curriculum
Brandi R. Woods
Grand Canyon University
EDA 561 - Curriculum Development for School Improvement
October 24, 2010
Instructional Practices for Standards-Based Curriculum George W. Bush put into action the No Child Left Behind Act to ensure that all children were giving the right education and succeeding. With this, many states adopted a standard-based curriculum approach that required for all schools to have a state-wide test for accountability. This has definitely influenced and changed the teachings of many schools (Wiles & Bondi, 2007). With the standards-based curriculum being adopted by many states, it means that the curriculum has become simplified and geared towards test taking. Most teachers are used to this testing and do not know anything else or know any other way to teach except to the test. The curriculum gives a list of expectations that each child should master. A lot of subjects are not seen as important such as electives (music, art, foreign language, etc.) (Wiles & Bondi, 2007). Some teachers have seen this movement as hard because they want to be able to teach their students so much more than just a test. They believe that they cannot have fun in teaching anymore. Once the state has set the standards, it is up to the local district to develop programs and test all students for achievement on the certain standards. The next step is to create categories by topic and then further to define the topics with content. Scope and sequence lists, curriculum maps and frameworks are then created by groups of teachers, who are given sample lesson plans and materials to use to key their own lessons to the standards. The final step of this process is to create aligned standards-based tests and then hold districts, schools, and teachers accountable for the defined standards. Educators, in general, agree that there should
References: Garcia, E. E. (1991). The Education of Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students: Effective Instructional Practices. UC Berkeley: Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence. Retrieved on October 24, 2010 from http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2793n11s Robinson, S. M. (1999, March). Meeting the Needs of Students Who Are Gifted and Have Learning Disabilities. Intervention in School and Clinic, 34(4), 195-204. doi: 10.1177/105345129903400401 Slavin, R. E. (1980, June). Cooperative Learning. Review of Educational Research, 50(2), 315-342. doi: 10.3102/00346543050002315 Soodak, L. C. (2002, Summer). Implementing Inclusive Early Childhood Education: A Call for Professional Empowerment. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 22(2), 91. Retrieved on October 24, 2010 from Education Research Complete Database Wiles, J., & Bondi, J. (2007). Curriculum Development: A Guide to Practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.