Concept of Curriculum Developement

(illustration)

Reflection of Education represents the four facets of education as the points of a star. The four facets include Curriculum, instruction, assessment, and standards. The four-pointed star symbol in Christianity is usually styled to resemble a cross. Also known as the Star of Bethlehem or natal star, this star represents both Jesus' birth and the purpose for which he was born. It is used especially for church decoration during the Advent and Christmas seasons. Each point of the star is made up of four identical segments. The four facets of education is the “four-pointed star” to illustrate the correlation for the concept of curriculum development.
From the star of curriculum development is a reflection. The reflection of curriculum development can be seen in our students thus depicting a star filled with students. I began with a star to symbolize that each of the four elements of education were equally important. Our students are then reflected below as a result of properly aligned curriculum, instruction, assessment, and standards (Loertscher and Rosenfeld, 2007).
What does it mean to align curriculum, instruction, and assessment to standards? According to Roach, Niebling, and Kurz (2008), “Alignment has been defined as the extent to which curricular expectations and assessments are in agreement and work together to provide guidance for educators’ efforts to facilitate students’ progress toward desire academic outcomes.” It means to align the content, assessment and instruction provided to the students. Curriculum alignment means assuring that the material taught in the school matches the standards and assessments set by the state or district for specific grade levels. It is a way of "mapping" the curriculum onto the standards to be sure that the school is teaching the content that is expected (Loertscher and Rosenfeld, 2007). Most states use a test to assess student mastery and meet federal accountability. The schools should align their curriculum with the content of the test to assure that students have studied the required content before taking the tests. This is mapping the students course to meet the end result.
To begin curricular mapping many schools conduct a curriculum review. A Curriculum Review involves four steps. First, teachers begin by aligning individual course curricula to the standards. Then the departments or grade level groups fill out an Alignment matrix showing how the standards are being met in each course curriculum. Then based on the alignment work, course outlines are created by groups of teachers of a common course curriculum. Once this is completed the information is used to prepare school, grade level or course outlines that are vertically aligned.
By conducting an effective curriculum review, school personnel are able to find out what is being taught and if it is consistent between teachers in a building and among teachers within a district. Another benefit of conducting a review is that it aligns key concepts identified in the curriculum to state and district standards to determine gaps and overlaps will ensure that it is coherent across the grade levels and courses. Finally, the review finds out the instructional approaches that teachers are using and how they students are learning. Teachers should provide opportunities for all students to learn.
While many school districts have formally aligned their adopted curriculum with mandated content area standards, it is up to the teacher to make those alignments an actuality on a daily basis. When planning, consider whether or not the benchmark is one that is being mastered, reinforced, or introduced at this grade level.
Standards or benchmarks may be combined into single lessons if the skills overlap or show relevance to one another. For example, social studies standards related to understanding the purposes of government may be combined with language arts standards on composition, text structure, and mechanics. Then the students could be given an assessment in the form of an essay on the three branches of federal power. Standards and benchmarks are typically written using action verbs that provide themselves well to numerous measurable instructional objectives.
Drake (2010) recommends that lessons built around measurable objectives are more focused and instructive than those that are simply planned around an activity. Standards and benchmarks serve as the groundwork for measurable objectives because they include active verbs that specify skills, which then become the basis for planning teacher instruction, guided practice activities, and related assessments.
Case in point, if the curriculum calls for the reading of a particular picture book, standards may cover skills such as identifying unknown words, predicting, and summarizing. The teacher should choose the standard that fits the lesson purpose and then rewrite them as instructional objectives that can be measured. This should be followed by specifying the students’ preferred behavior or skill, the circumstances under which the behavior will occur, and the degree to which students are expected to perform the behavior.
The previous example will aid the teachers in differentiating the instruction. According to Lawrence-Brown (2004) differentiated instruction can enable gifted students and students with severe disabilities an opportunity to receive an appropriate education in inclusive classrooms.
Instructional planning involves teachers harmonizing curricular topics with the knowledge and skills mandated in content area standards and related benchmarks. Aligning the district curriculum with state standards will allow teachers to build meaningful lesson plans and to collect relevant assessment data. Teachers who begin their planning with the appropriate standards can resourcefully focus their instruction directly on what will be assessed, without having to "teach to the test."
The incorporation of instructional standards into everyday planning can seem intimidating to teachers, but it does not have to be. When beginning with the mandated standards and benchmarks, teachers may be sure that their students are getting the practice and reinforcement they need to be successful on both state and district assessments, as well as classroom evaluations.
The grade-level or subject area curriculum brings together standards with themes or subject area topics in an orderly sequence alongside instructional methods that give students sufficient opportunities to learn content and skills. Standards curricula must be rigorous and worth doing.
Benefits of effective curriculum development according to Hosen (1975) include improved student performance on standardized tests, better communication and collaboration among teachers, and letting teachers know how their instructional decisions contribute to students' overall learning. These benefits can all be seen in the reflective star of my representation.
States, districts and schools have distinct responsibilities. Each state department of education sees that state tests are aligned with state standards and state curriculum frameworks. The district writes or adopts a curriculum that is aligned with state documents, supports teachers in delivering it and monitors implementation and results. The school provides teachers opportunities for review of curriculum documents, alignment of instructional strategies and classroom assessments to meet state standards, and relevant professional development.

ReferencesLoertscher, D., & Rosenfeld, E. (2007). Creating Standards-Based Integrated Curriculum: Aligning Curriculum, Content, Assessment, and Instruction, 2ND ED. Teacher Librarian, 34(5), 51-52. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Hosen, R. (1975). The Value and Design of an Effective Social Science Curriculum. Education, 96(2), 129. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.

Huebner, T. (2010). Differentiated Instruction. Educational Leadership, 67(5), 79. Retrieved from MAS Ultra - School Edition database.

Lawrence-Brown, D. (2004). Differentiated Instruction: Inclusive strategies for standards-based learning that benefit the whole class. American Secondary Education, 32(3), 34. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Roach, A., Niebling, B., & Kurz, A. (2008). Evaluating the alignment among curriculum, instruction, and assessments: Implications and applications for research and practice. Psychology in the Schools, 45(2), 158-176. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.