Curriculum Planning History BY L*avort82 Temika LaFavor Grand Canyon University EDA 561 Curriculum Development for School Improvement November 13, 2013 According to Merriam-Webster, curriculum is the planned interaction of students with instructional content, materials, resources and assessment for evaluating what has been taught. Danielson states that a curriculum is a blueprint that gives teachers the expectations and goals of what students should be learning. The curriculum also provides the resources to use that align with the skills or strategies being taught (Danielson, 2002).
For previous years and years to come, the curriculum has been the most important part of a school. Choosing the appropriate curriculum and making sure it is fully implemented has been challenging to educational leaders. Periodically, many states often update their curriculum to make sure it continues to align with the state standards. The beginning of the support for public education curriculum came in 1872 in the Kalamazoo case in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 1874, the case brought to the education by levying taxes. Many other court cases followed this asking for taxes to e levied to support education (The Kalamazoo Case, 1872).
John Franklin Bobbit has had the most influence in the education curriculum design. He was an American educationalist and specialized in the field of curriculum. After creating a curriculum for the Philippines, Bobbit realized that a curriculum had more useful solutions than just an American textbook. He believed the curriculum created by the school was a blue print used to prepare students for the future of being a citizen in society. He influenced the curriculum by showing how various teaching methods could orrespond to social needs.
Bobbit created the following steps for making a curriculum: planning in detail, deriving objectives, analysis of human experience, and Job analysis.. The Curriculum: a summary of the development concerning the theory of curriculum, written by Bobbit in 1918, was established as the official specialization education science. John Dewey also had an influence in curriculum planning by contributing to the debate of bridging the gap of the curriculum (Murray, 2013) In the past 10 years, The No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2001 has dramatically hanged curriculum in schools.
This act has increased accountability in all school by focusing on the curriculum provided to students. Due to this act, states have been required to set high expectations and access student achievement through state assessments. Even though NCLB was created to benefit the instruction of students, it has also placed a strain on teachers, who now feels stressed out and turn to other careers. Teachers in urban and rural areas are experiencing challenges teaching low-income students without resources and financial assistance.
Districts in those reas are not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), whereas districts in other areas receive tax levies that enhance resources and the best technology available. Overall, the passion for education is being removed from the classroom and replaced with the pressure of meeting AYP (Gentry, 2006). In certain areas of Duval County, they are numerous amounts of English Language Learners. It is very difficult for a school to reach AYP due to the students that are ELL. The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) model has been implemented into each grade level curriculum to help instruct in English.
When the model is used effectively, lessons can launch purposeful communication within students and create language practices. It is wonderful that we can teach ELL students the skills and strategies needed to pass assessments, but will this information be useful in their future. Using various education models has its advantages and disadvantages, but the use of the SIOP model gives way for students to become bored and eventually off task. The SIOP model requires a lot of planning and preparation. It also demands that teacher have excellent classroom management techniques and ability to ultitask (IruJo, 2006, Para. 6).
With the larger class sizes and fewer paraprofessionals to assist, teachers have become extremely overwhelmed. The mandated curriculum and constant standardized testing has given teachers less flexibility to teach in the ways that would benefit every student and their learning style. Whether students speak English fluently or not, teachers are well aware that they have a responsibility to teach all of the students in their classrooms. The well. Even though the United States has approximately 3 million gifted students in opulation, less money is still being received allocated to gifted programs and schools (Beisser, 2008).
Gifted students and program are being abandoned and neglected. Teachers are being utilized to assist in other areas so the school will make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Districts and schools are placing gifted teachers in classroom to assist low scoring students. The gifted program is no longer benefiting the students that were originally assigned to the program. With the lack of planning time, classroom space, and professional development, gifted students have been limited. The academic performance of gifted students has declined over the past few years.
The curriculum is now watered down and no longer rigorous to meet their needs. Districts that are mandated to implement the No Child Left behind act need to find better ways to improve instruction to serve all children. Districts and educational leaders can provide professional development trainings for all classroom teachers to acknowledge the need and traits of gifted and intelligent students. Colleges and Universities need to prep teachers on how to provide high level curriculum to high performing students.
The creation of the No Child Left Behind Act has forced education policy makers to focus on those students that are less proficient, those that are struggling to meet state standards, and those that have deficiencies in reading and math. Those students who are gifted have been left behind (Bessier, 2008). The curriculum used in todays society should prepare students to achieve goals become productive members of society. In this new age of high accountability, education must make changes to where society is heading. Education does not need to be dormant, but reflect where we are in present time.
Curriculum should be a total learning experience provided by the school and teacher. It should outline the skills, performances, behaviors, attitudes and values students are expected to learn. A curriculum should be prescriptive and based on what needs to be understood. References Beisser, S. R. (2008). Unintended Consequences of No Child Left Behind Mandates on Gifted Students. Retrieved on November 13, 2013 from http:// forumonpublicpolicy. com/summer08papers/archivesummer08/beisser. pdf Danielson, C. (2002). Enhancing Student Achievement: A Framework for School Improvement.
Alexandria, VA: ASCD Gentry, M. (2006). No Child Left Behind: Neglecting Excellence. Education Research Complete, 29(1),24-27 IruJo, S. (2006). Flexible Grouping: Nobody Ever Said Teaching Was Easy! Retrieved on November 13, 2013 from http:// www. coursecrafters. com/ELLoutlook/2006/mar_apr/ELLOutlooklTlArticle3. htm The Kalamazoo Case. (1872) Retrieved November 13, 2013, from http://www. nd. edu/ ??”rbarger/www7/kalamazo. html Murray, James W. John Franklin Bobbitt. Retrieved November 1 2, 2013 from http://www2. southeastern. edu/Academics/Faculty/nadams/ educ692/Bobbitt. html
