Discussion 4: Models of Curriculum Development
As school districts across the nation address societal demands and legislative mandates to prepare a workforce for the 2lst century, school leaders find themselves working to change curriculum within their schools. To achieve this challenging, sometimes controversial task of curriculum alignment and revision, school leaders must work with diverse constituencies to achieve the best balance of needs, desires, appropriate assessment, and instruction. Achieving effective curriculum revision, therefore, requires a thorough understanding of the processes and principles of the changing paradigms affecting curriculum development.
Curriculum development is viewed as occurring on a variety of levels beginning with the classroom and moving through a spectrum to include national and international sectors. Each level in ascending order exercises authority over preceding levels. Sectors are distinguished from levels because sectors have no or limited power over the five levels. Forces outside of schools also influence curriculum decision making.
Discussion:
Identify & describe a curriculum revision that has taken place in your organization/school/district in the last 5 years. Based on your readings regarding the curriculum change process, address the following questions in your discussion.
- Reference against the 5 levels mentioned in the Gordon, et al pp.50-60.
- What determined the “success” of the curriculum revision processes?
- Were there specific factors that had a significant impact on whether or not the revision project was successful?
- What views did teachers have on the process of curriculum revision processes?
- How did teacher attitudes and/or backgrounds have an impact on the success or failure of curriculum revision procedures?
- How did the revision procedures have an influence on its success or failure?
- What effect, if any, did pre-service training have on the revision process?
- What is your opinion about the effectiveness of the process? What would you have done differently (if anything) to influence the outcome?
Cite your textbook and or any other source in APA style
Discussion 4: Models of Curriculum Development
A curriculum has several dimensions, including objectives, content, learning strategies, and evaluation and assessment. Revision can cover one or two of these dimensions. Volusia County School District made a recent revision on the evaluation and assessment aspect of the curriculum from grade three to grade 10 (Johnson, 2022). The changes reduced the English language arts and math test time by 45%. These curriculum changes affected the 2022-23 school year.
The success of the curriculum revision process was enhanced by collaboration and consensus among the school district board members. Some of the factors leading to the successful revision include a proper assessment of the curriculum gap, a clear objective of curriculum revision, and proper communication among the board members (Wood, 2015). Also, the connection between the teachers/school and the school district enhanced the process (Gordon II et al., 2019). Teachers have positive reviews regarding the revision because they would now get back good instructional time to enhance students’ growth (Johnson, 2022). The reduction in time also means a reduction in the number of tests done, hence, more instructional time back to the teachers.
The good attitude reflected by teachers towards the revision process enhanced its success. In addition, the revision process entailed the evaluation of the curriculum to identify a gap and a solution to improve students learning (Gordon II et al., 2019). The process includes involvement from teachers and the entire school district board members. This sense of collaboration and consensus improved the process. There was no information about pre-service training. However, pre-service training would enhance the process of revision by allowing teachers to understand how the new system works (Wood, 2015). My personal opinion is that the whole process of curriculum revision was effective. Something that ought to be done differently is teacher education to make them understand how they would utilize the extra time