The Curriculum Development Process

1. The Curriculum Development Process Aligning Curriculum and Instruction to Support Academic Success for NJ GEAR UP Students September 13, 2012 Kilpatry Cuesta, State Coordinator, NJ GEAR UP State Project

2. What we do NJ GEAR UP Mission: To increase the number of low income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.

3. How we do it • Academic and personal counseling • NJASK8, HSPA, PSAT, and SAT prep classes • Academic year and summer instruction • Help with college applications • Mentoring • After-school tutoring • College visits and tours • Financial aid information workshops • Cultural and educational field trips

4. Video Reflection • How do we support effective academic instruction and student learning? • What are our current habits?

5. Changing Education Paradigms • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

6. Curriculum Development The process of curriculum development is an opportunity to • Support creative instruction • Impact student achievement • Prepare students for college & LIFE

7. What do we value? • Please think about what you value in your respective programs. • You will have an opportunity to share

8. Curriculum Development Team • NJ GEAR UP Director • Curriculum Coordinator • Lead Teacher (s) (content/technology) • Consultant • NJ GEAR UP State Coordinator

9. Vision • A vision should stretch the organization’s capabilities and image of itself. • It gives shape and direction to the organization’s future.

10. NJ GEAR UP Goal: • To participate in the curriculum development process • to ensure that standards guide academic year and summer instruction Note: While the process may be universal the goal is NOT to create a canned GEAR UP curriculum (book) for all programs to use

11. Standards Academic standards help identify the big ideas to be addressed in a grade , level, unit, or lesson • What students should know and be able to do • What they may be asked to give evidence of learning • How well they should be expected to know or do

12. New Era: Common Core Standards (CCS) • We must now spend more time focusing on aligning curriculum and instruction, rather than developing curriculum guides. • We have shifted from focusing on what (standards) to focusing on how (teaching).

13. 6 Shifts in English Language Arts (ELA) CCS(September 2012 –Implementation in NJ) Shift 1: • At least 50% of what students read should be INFORMATIONAL (there should be a balance of informational & literary texts) • Text complexity should increase Shift 2: Knowledge in the Disciplines • Grades 6-12: Literacy is shared across the subjects

14. ELA CCS Shift 3: Staircase of complexity • Students are prepared for the complexity of college and career-ready texts • Teachers provide scaffolding and supports for students below grade level Shift 4: Text-based answers • Assess comprehension of text through arguments, conversations, & writing

15. ELA CCS Shift 5: Writing from Sources • Use of evidence to inform or make an argument Shift 6: Academic Vocabulary • Increased vocabulary is needed to access grade level complex text • Help students access more complex texts across content areas

16. Curriculum Curriculum is the program used to prepare students to meet the standards • It provides direction in instruction • It is fluid & ever changing

17. Step 1: Establish the Foundation • Understand state and national standards • Standards are the driving force for curriculum development October 2012

18. Step II: Data Analysis • Analyze student achievement data • Develop a common understanding of students’ needs beyond individual sites. ASK 8, HSPA, Grades Graduation rate/College enrollment rate Rigorous courses (Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Chemistry) Other October-November 2012

19. Step III: Assessments Establish local benchmarks that will help teachers identify how well students understand the big ideas outlined in the curriculum standards. Wiggins & Tighe’s (1998). Backward design model.

20. Step IV: Writing • Create supporting curriculum documents that teachers can use to implement the curriculum in the classroom. • Develop a curriculum guide/template to help teachers develop lessons • December-February 2013

21. Step V: Resource Review • Team reviews and selects resources that align with the standards, grade-level expectations, and assessments the team developed. • Beware of glitzy products! • Resources will be tested during the pilot phase

22. Professional Development Effective Educational Practices that Promote Student Achievement • Precollege Teachers • Directors • Staff • May-June 2012 (ongoing)

23. Characteristics of Effective Teaching • A comfortable & safe learning community • Relevance-connecting new instruction to previous learning • Rigor-challenge the students • Active learning experiences (aesthetic experience-video) Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R.R.,eds. (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

24. Step VI: Pilot Process • Pilot lessons & materials at least 6 to 8 weeks • July 2013

25. Evaluate the Pilot • August-September 2013

26. Revise • October 2013

27. Implementation • Academic Year 2013

28. Review and Evaluate • One of the reasons why curriculum work is so challenging is that it is never done (Mooney & Mausbach, 2008, p. 12). • Curriculum team must continue to meet on an ongoing basis to ensure that teaching and learning in the content area is helping students achieve.

29. Closing Remarks • “I cried,” she said. “I thanked God. And I cried.” • “I notice that when you are not educated, you are restricted in a lot of ways. I don’t want to be restricted” • “My teachers were mean to me!” she says with a smile. “They tore apart everything that I wrote.” But she knows now that her teachers saw her talent and helped her learn how to express herself”

30. Curriculum Development Planning Session • October 18, 2012

31. References • Mooney, N., Mausbach, A. (2008). Align the design: A blueprint for school improvement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. • Core Common Standards http://www.corestandards.org/ • Presentation adapted from Judy Feinberg, Richard Stockton College • Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.