Curriculum Design

Curriculum & Assessment Teams
Districtwide curriculum and assessment teams (most often K-12) have been organized for all curriculum areas.  The primary focus of the C & A teams is to design and link curriculum, assessment, and instruction so they maximize students’ learning opportunities and results.  A three-year design and implementation process has been used by many of our C&A teams, although the four core areas continue to meet for several days each June to refine and expand their work.

All C&A teams are chaired by one or more teachers.  These teams are composed of teachers representing each grade level, special education, ELA, integration specialists, school principals, and district administration.  The Elementary T&L Director leads and facilitates the work of the K-12 Language Arts and K-12 Social Studies C&A Teams, while the Secondary T&L Director leads and facilitates the work of the K-12 Mathematics and K-12 Science C&A Teams.  Consultants from outside the school district are employed to provide additional expertise and professional development for the design work in each curricular area.  These consultants provide a critical review of the quality of the documents produced.

Individually, team members are responsible for actively engaging in the assigned work; designing written curriculum and assessments for their assigned courses or grade levels; providing leadership for implementing, monitoring, and evaluating district curricula and assessments; and collecting relevant staff feedback.  Revisions to all C&A documents are made based on staff feedback and student learning results.

Collectively, each C&A team is responsible for completing the following tasks:

•    Designing specific curriculum and assessment documents for the K-12 program;
•    Designing specific curriculum and assessment documents for each course and grade
     level;
•    Recommending new courses and revisions to existing courses within the K-12 C&A
     program;
•    Recommending new or revised structures (e.g. schedules), which will expand
     learning opportunities;
•    Recommending new instructional resources to support the K-12 C&A program;
•    Recommending professional development needed to successfully implement the
     K-12 C&A program; and
•    Recommending revisions in grading and reporting student progress.

Curriculum Design Process
The first step in the district’s curriculum design process is to create a set of K-12 curriculum philosophy and beliefs, which articulates the discipline’s purpose. A K-12 curriculum design framework is then created, which conceptually organizes and connects the district’s curriculum by program standards (strands).  The three components of GIPS curriculum frameworks typically include K-12 program curriculum standards, enduring understandings, and essential questions.  It is expected that these frameworks will be consistent with, and based on, national and state standards.

Based on the curriculum design framework, the next step is to design sets of course/grade level standards which are aligned to the K-12 program standards (strands).  Making sure that all course/grade level standards sufficiently address the program standard (strand) is key to ensuring that all K-12 students will have sufficient opportunities to learn the district’s curriculum.  Course/grade level standards represent the essential learning targets and content for each K-12 course and grade level.  Occasionally, some C&A teams may also identify unit standards, depending on the desired level of specificity, although this is generally a teacher responsibility (see Design Down Process).

Understanding by Design (UbD) training is provided to help facilitate the use of the backward design process when teachers plan their instructional units.  This model helps teachers thoughtfully plan each teaching and learning component:  learning targets (stage 1); assessments (stage 2); and learning activities (stage 3).

Assessment Design Process
Collectively, all student assessments must serve a range of formative and summative purposes (also diagnostic).  The primary goal of formative assessments is to improve student learning results, while the main goal of summative assessments is program evaluation and accountability.  Formative assessments provide ongoing feedback that guides, supports, and improves student learning opportunities and results.  Summative assessments provide periodic and culminating evidence that determines whether intended learning standards have been achieved at established performance levels.  The C&A teams design all district assessments, which are used for summative purposes, and also provide some guidance regarding the formative measures to be used by teachers.

Course/grade level assessments are designed by the C&A teams.  These summative measures are aligned to and assess each set of course/grade level curriculum standards.  The expectation is that these district assessments represent a combination of performance assessments and structured responses.  The creation of performance assessments helps assure an appropriate balance between “knowing” and “doing.”

Curriculum & Assessment Guides
When completed, a curriculum and assessment guide for a particular course or grade level will typically include these components:

 

•    K-12 philosophy and beliefs statement, which guides the K-12 curricular program;
•    K-12 curriculum design framework, which conceptually organizes and connects the
     district’s curriculum by program standards (strands), and includes program
     standards, enduring understandings, and essential questions;
•    Set of course/grade level curriculum standards, which represent the essential
     learning targets and content for each course and grade level;
•    Set of course/grade level or district assessments, a combination of performance
     assessments and structured responses, which align to and measure the
     course/grade level curriculum standards;
•    Course/grade level design map, which links these components: K-12 program and
     course/grade level standards; K-12 enduring understandings and essential
     questions; unit titles, estimated time frames and pacing, and unit assessments;
     and key vocabulary concepts; and
•    Summative assessment schedule, which communicates all annual national, state,
     and district assessments.