1. CURRICULUM, STANDARDS, AND TESTING

2. EDUCATIONAL TIME LINE TIME EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY FOCUS OF CURRICULUM
Seventeenth Century
“Two R’s”
Secondary education for males only; reading and religion
Eighteenth Century
Life in the present
Reading, religion, morality, writing, and arithmetic; vocational skills; academy open to females
Nineteenth Century
Secular education
Secondary education in Latin or English curriculum
Early Twentieth Century
Progressive education
Creative expression; junior high school developed; secondary education for all students

3. EDUCATIONAL TIME LINE (continued)
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
FOCUS OF CURRICULUM
1940s-1960s
Discipline-oriented
Congress funded programs in science, math, languages, and guidance
1960s-1970s
Social concern and humanistic education
Gender-based courses; multiethnic curricula
1980s
Back to basics
Academic subjects emphasized; increased discipline; elimination of electives; competency exams
1990s
Widening of the core curriculum
Expansion of the core curriculum to include more people of color and women
Current
_____________
________________

4. Curriculum

5. Curriculum
Planned content of instruction that enable the school to meet its aims.
Core curriculum- A central body of knowledge that schools require all students to study. Examples:
Core knowledge- Awareness of the central ideas, beliefs, personalities, writing, events, etc. of culture. Also termed “cultural literacy.”
(standards based education- National, state, local)

6. Types of curriculum Formal curriculum
Arranging experiences so that intended outcomes are reached
examples:
always includes standards, essential questions, activities, assessments
content standards-what a person knows
performance standards-what a person can do
Hidden curriculum
Learnings that are not always intended but emerge as students are shaped by the school culture,
Examples:

7. Multi-cultural curriculum-Educational policies and practices that not only recognize but also affirm human differences and similarities associated with gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, disability and class.

8. Extracurriculum
the part of school life that comprises activities, It helps to develop important skills and values, including leadership, teamwork, creativity, and diligence.
examples:
Intracurriculum
Integrating CTSO’s (career and technical student organizations) in to the classroom
Null curriculum
The curriculum that is not taught in schools.

9. Influences on curriculum

10. WHO AND WHAT SHAPE THE CURRICULUM? How do they?
Students
Education Commissions & Committees
Parental & Community Groups
Professional Organizations
Teachers
Special Interest Groups
Administrators
(censorship,sponsorships)
Federal Govt.
Available Technology
State Govt.
Textbook adoption
Local Govt.
Colleges and Universities
Standardized Tests

11. Influence of technology
Programs
Virtual field trips
Distance learning
Increase in available resources
Replacement of traditional resources

12. TEXTBOOK ADOPTION STATES politics or equal education for all?
Source: American Association of Publishers, Washington, DC, 2003.

13. Texas and California effect (“Four States effect [Florida and North Carolina])
These four states exert an enormous influence on what is included-or omitted-from the texts.
State tell publishers what they would like to see in a text book
Publishers design book to meet the states’ wish list

14. Dumbing Down effect Specific reading level
Avoiding difficult vocabulary
Avoiding long sentences

15. Censorship When a book is removed from access
Self-censorship (also known as stealth censorship)- when a parent or teacher quietly removes a book from access as the result of an informal complaint in order to avoid controversy.
Self-censorship is also practiced when a teacher chooses to omit a topic to avoid controversy

16. EXAMPLES OF CENSORSHIP
Mary Rodgers’ Freaky Friday: “Makes fun of parents and parental responsibility.”
George Eliot’s Silas Marner: “You can’t prove what that dirty old man is doing with that child between the chapters.”
Plato’s Republic: “This book is un-Christian.”
Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days: “Very unfavorable to Mormons.”
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: “Too violent for children.”
Fodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment: “Serves as a poor model for young people.”
Herman Melville’s Moby Dick: “Contains homosexuality.”
Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl: “Obscene and blasphemous.”
E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web: “Morbid picture of death.”
Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island: “You know what men are like and what they do when they’ve been away from women that long.”
J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit: “Subversive elements.”
Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: “Racist.”
William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble: “Anti-police” (one of the police officers is drawn as a pig).
Webster’s Dictionary: “Contains sexually explicit definitions.”

17. Teacher’s responsibility when selecting curriculum materials
Is there a lack of bias?
Is it approved by the powers that be in your district or state?
Is it appropriate?
Does it fit the curriculum?
Is it standards based?
Does it encourage critical thinking skills?
Does it allow for metacognition?

18. Critical Thinking Skills-Asking higher order questions that prompt students to analyze and evaluate data (analysing)
Metacognition-Teaching students how to think about their own thinking. It includes active control over the thought process in learning and teaching students how to plan to approach a given learning task, to monitor their own understanding, and to evaluate their own learning (evaluating/creating)

19. Forms of Bias found in curriculum materials
Invisibility-Prior to the 1960’s African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, women, and Native Americans were largely invisible; that is, not even included in texts. What other group of people may be invisible?
Stereotyping-When rigid roles or traits are assigned to all members of a group.
Imbalance and Selectivity- perpetuating bias by presenting only one side of an issue, such as describing how women were “given” the vote.

20. Unreality-painting a “Pollyanna” picture of the society (lack of health care, ongoing racism, classism, and sexism)
Fragmentation and Isolation- focusing on group of people subtly suggesting that they are not part of society’s mainstream.
Linguistic bias- using words that can indicate the behavior of a group of people
Cosmetic Bias- the illusion of equity. Example the front of a text book shows a multi-ethnic group of male and females participating in a variety of activities, when in reality the content is actually bias on a variety of levels.

21. Testing/Evaluation-How do we know students know?

22. Vocabulary related to curriculum and testing
Authentic assessment- A type of evaluation that represents actual performance, encourages students to reflect on their own work, and is integrated into the student’s whole learning process.
Examples-
Standardized test- a test administered and scored in a standard manner. The tests are designed in such a way that the "questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent" and are "administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner.”

23. If students in your district did poorly on a standardized test, what might be your reaction?
Source: Public Agenda, September 2000.

24. NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND School and District Report Cards
Annual Testing
Academic Yearly Progress
Under NCLB act, each state establishes annual criteria to determine school district and school achievement. Schools that fail to meet AYP criteria (often determined by standardized tests) are held accountable and may be closed.
School and District Report Cards
Highly Qualified Faculty/Staff
What Other Areas of the Law are Less Well Known?
Safe schools, Special needs, graduation rates, military

25. SEVEN REASONS WHY STANDARDIZED TESTS ARE NOT WORKING
At-Risk Students Placed at Greater Risk
Lower Graduation Rates
Higher Test Scores Do Not Mean More Learning
Standardized Testing Shrinks the Curriculum
Tests Errors
Teacher Stress
What’s Worth Knowing?