Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment Chapter 3 What is curriculum? Planned learning opportunities for students. Goal – Improve- ment in student performance with emphasis on equity and superior teaching & learning. It is adopted by the state (learning standards) and the district (goals). It’s our bible! It is composed of content: skills, knowledge, & concepts we expect students to learn & apply.

What is instruction? An outline of procedures/methods to be taught & learned Sometimes called Methods or strategies to be completed in activities, products, performances, etc. Tools including textbooks, workbooks, audio visual items, guest speakers, etc. assist instruction Lesson plans might call for use of word walls, large & small group instruction, cooperative groups, literature circles, teacher modeling, guided reading, retelling, book reports, etc.

What is Assessment? Appraisal of student work as compared to a stated goal or rubric showing some degree of mastery & application. Assessment can take numerous forms including testing, projects, observations, discussion, presentations, etc.

What are Instructional Resources? Materials, places, or people who can add depth to instruction. Examples might include community resources, guest speakers, field trips, computer word processing, dictionaries, visual aids, assemblies, local contests, internet, demonstrations, reference books, etc.

NMSA BELIEFS Middle school curriculum, instruction, & assessment should… 1.Relate to the lives of students 2.Integrate knowledge 3.Focus on the process of learning 4.Be delivered in an environment in which exploration is pervasive, is activity based, and students can learn from failure.

Curriculum Development Content or academic standards must spell out what students should know and do. LEP students should be held to the same standards. 1. Which learning standards are to be mastered? 2. Develop a curriculum based on those standards 3. Decide which assessment methods to use. 4. Decide which instructional methods will be used to prepare students for learning & applying. 5. Decide on instructional resources that are applicable and available.

Concepts and generalizations are the foundation for any unit and should be contained in the standards. Concepts are single words or phrases that serve for a category or class of things with shared attributes. Generalizations (principals) are rules that govern how concepts function. ConceptsGeneralizations change change is inevitable power may be used or abused patternsallow for predictions ordercomes out of chaos Prioritize. Complete the standards that are most critical, first. Less important standards, further down the line. We need quality, not quantity in covering material! – clearinghouse for standards

Curriculum based on standards Why are we doing this? What is it’s value? What will I be able to do with this? Why is this important to me either now or in the future? 1. The curriculum should be organized around important concepts and questions. 2. It should reflect the interests & needs of middle school students. 3. Work should be oriented toward the assessments, the tasks students will undertake to demonstrate their knowledge and skills.

Questions Develop good questions tied to concepts before you begin a unit or lesson. Good questions will drive a lesson if they relate to the world outside the school and connect to the students’ lives. Example: Is terrorism wrong? Do revolutionaries differ from terrorists? Do they differ from criminals? Were our country’s founders terrorists?

Curriculum Designs Integrated Curriculum – Each teacher on a team ranks the standards in their core subject area. Comparisons are made to discover overlaps in the concepts, questions, and skills. They join commonalities and develop an integrated approach. Multidisciplinary approach – Units are developed across several disciplines with a common topic or theme (oceans, dinosaurs, weather, rainforests) Be careful here – you may be choosing a fun topic, but not connecting to a standard or concept.

Assessment Methods Informal checks for understanding Traditional quizzes & tests Interviews, questionnaires, & conferences Performance tasks & projects Authentic or alternative assessments allow students to apply information learned and skills gained to solve realistic problems. (videos, skits, surveys, posters, timelines, debates, models, portfolios, projects, etc.) Rubrics outline a set of criteria, on a 4 or 6 point scale, with performance descriptors that define the range of performance on an authentic assessment task. Portfolios contain a selection of a student’s work designed to demonstrate progress toward a goal.