Curriculum and Instruction

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Curriculum and Instruction

• October 2009

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Hmm
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An Institutional Look Back

• 1982 A Nation at Risk
• Results on International Paper and Pencil Tests
• 1990s Standards and Assessments
• A State by State response to A Nation at Risk
• The age of accountability
• Curricular frameworks, Paper and Pencil
  Assessments, Analysis of the Data
• 2000 NCLB
• Accountability from the Federal Level
  additional sanctions
• (Houston Model)
• Present administration advocates for Charter
  Schools and more intervention by government in
  failing schools
• (Chicago Model)
• Have schools made progress over twenty years?

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Growth Model A Better Measure

• Acknowledges gaps that have not closed despite
  great efforts.
• Bases AYP on the percent of students who meet
  their individual target score.
• Not sufficient to be proficient, or even advanced
  if a student cannot demonstrate a years growth.

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The Agenda Grew

• At the same time schools were focused on
  improving test scores, schools had other
  initiatives and expectations placed on them.
• Safety, well-being, and specialized high quality
  programs competed for resources as time on
  learning needed to expand.
• High school became a place to build a transcript
  for college.
• Play a sport
• Join at least one extra-curricular activity
• Do good work in the community
• Distinguish yourself from your peers

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The World Changed

• Sources of information grew content knowledge
  could be accessed without being in a classroom.
• As available knowledge grew, people brought
  different expertise to the table.
• As available knowledge grew, right answers were
  no longer easily reached by consensus.
• It became much harder to do good work and work in
  isolation.

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21st Century Changes for Educators

• The teacher is not the sole source of information
  on any topic. Students must be assisted in
  finding, assessing, and employing information
  from multiple sources.
• The right answer is not always the one supported
  by the facts presented by one individual, but on
  the answer upon which the group can agree.

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21st Century Skills

• Read, write, process and communicate information
  appropriate to grade level.
• Work in groups with opportunities to problem
  solve.
• Use web 2.0 tools for information gathering and
  networking.
• Assess student career interests with respect to a
  global economy.

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21st Century Skills

• Are best suited to project-based learning.
• Are best suited to student portfolios, authentic
  assessments, and real-world work products.
• Involve creative problem solving and often group
  work.
• Cannot be measured with paper and pencil tests.

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Next Steps for Framingham

• Reduce the stress level on some students and
  teachers.
• Focus PD, make the number of initiatives doable,
  reduce the number of paper and pencil tests which
  take time and organizational energy, give
  ourselves and our students permission to focus
  more on depth and less on breadth, leverage
  technology.

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Leveraging Technology

• Teachers of young students can use juried on-line
  lessons that are more project based but still
  address the standards. Assessments can be
  on-line with instant results. Support and
  acceleration can sometimes be via software
  programs. Podcasts are generally available on
  most topics. Virtual tours of places, e.g.
  museums, can be easily accessed. Very young
  students can do PowerPoints.
• Older students can guide their learning by
  accessing information on-line and sharing it with
  web 2.0 tools in order to solve a problem or
  generate a creative extension to a lesson.

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Leveraging Technology

• Secondary students can take on-line or hybrid
  courses. They cannot only access information but
  also experts on a topic. Their work products can
  sometimes include photos, videos and displays of
  real-world work products.
• Many staff already do some or all of this and
  still address standards.

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Consistency in Curriculum and Outcomes

• Think Math is an outstanding curriculum that
  develops problem solving skills.
• Balanced literacy gives students opportunities to
  express their individuality by the books they
  choose and the stories they write.
• AP is still a valuable experience for students to
  give them basic knowledge and skills in a content
  area.

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High Tech-High Touch

• Our classrooms need to be high tech-high touch
  classrooms. Some already are.
• High touch refers to individualization of
  instruction.
• High tech does not necessarily mean that each
  student has a laptop on which to word process.
• The district will support one demonstration
  classroom per school for 2010-2011. An RFP will
  come out prior to Thanksgiving break.

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Our Challenge

• Can we begin to look at education from a 21st
  century skill perspective?
• Encourage students to seek information from a
  variety of sources.
• Encourage students to spend some time in real
  world problem solving.
• Encourage students to understand the need and
  value of working in groups.
• Encourage students to present their work in a
  variety of formats.
• Swing hard and hit a slightly different ball out
  of the park.