Curriculum Plan Evaluation
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SUMMARY
Analyzing and effectively unpacking state or federal standards is a crucial piece to the lesson planning puzzle. Standards may often be too vague or too broad to use as a foundation for
planning (Wiggins & McTighe, 2012). Interpreting the verbiage and clearly defining the meaning of the standard is the first part of the process. Multiple key elements and objectives may be included in a single standard, and while seemingly independent, may not be intended as isolated lessons but to be taught as a cohesive unit. Different objectives may be intended to achieve different types of goals within a single standard. What type of outcome is expected of the student may be determined by analyzing the key
verbs within a standard. Recurring nouns may signal key concepts, Adjectives and adverbs may indicate scoring criteria. Highest-level standards may indicate transfer goals while the standard needs to be evaluated in its entirety to determine what students should be able to do on their own after the lesson or unit is completed. Assessments should be structured in such a way that they assess the standard, not just the mention of the standard within the lesson. Finally, self-
assessment and peer-assessment are useful tools in deciding if the unpacking has been done effectively and correct (Wiggins & McTighe, 2012).
SMART goals are another tool for unpacking standards, creating a clear and concise framework for building a clear and effective lesson plan. Re-stating goals in clear terms, then analyzing each goal based on specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-related criteria, creates a clear objective for the lesson. It focuses the topic, while defining expected outcomes and shaping the instruction to meet these outcomes.
