How To Compare And Contrast A School Curriculum

The word curriculum can mean something different to different people, even to different teachers who use the term almost daily (Manning & Butcher, 2012). However, it boils down to curriculum being what a student learns, both in terms of core subject content, as well as though social activity and elective/activity courses. However, there has often been a disconnect between different states and districts over what exactly should be in the curriculum for various grades and what is needed to prepare students for life beyond school, as well as providing little basis for comparing the US to other countries. That’s where Common Core State Standards (CCSS) come in. According to Teaching in the Middle School (2012), the Common Core standards were created in an attempt to provide curriculum standards that are “rigorous, internationally benchmarked, and aligned with college and work expectations”. Since its implementation in 2009, 42 US states and the District of Columbia have integrated the standards into their curriculums. (Core Standards, 2015)

To provide a broad, balanced and integrated curriculum with a view to developing the individual child’s full potential.

Curriculums are the roadmaps for schools which provide purpose and direction for administrators, educators, parents, and students. Curriculum typically refers to, “the knowledge and skills students are expected to learn, which includes the learning standards or learning objectives they are expected to meet; the units and lessons that teachers teach; the assignments and projects given to students; the books, materials, videos, presentations, and readings used in a course; and the tests, assessments, and other methods used to evaluate student learning.” (Curriculum, 2015, para. 1) Curriculums may come in many shapes and forms, whether they’re purchased as a package at the school or district level or they’re created or refined by educators and

The purpose of the Comprehensive Curriculum Project (CCP) is to analyze the myriad of issues that have arisen over the last few years revolving around curricula and its use in the classroom, school, and district. With the 2010 state adoption of the Common Core, educators experienced many different transitional issues and developmental issues revolving around the curricula. In order to develop a deeper understanding of these issues it is important to conduct interviews, look at the Teacher Working Conditions survey, and to analyze local organizational models that might affect the transition to the new standards.

104-110). With these three features these will make a successful student not only in their K-12 years, but this will also be beneficial to the students in college and as they begin their careers in the work force. As teachers begin to change their ways of teaching to adjust to the common core standards it will create something fundamentally important in the schools system to create successful students. Not only does this take out the state creating state standardized assessments, but now the teachers are liable for that.

The goal of the Common Core State Standards is to prepare students for college and work expectations and help them compete and succeed in a global economy and society. Furthermore, this policy has shaped current educational thinking by providing established learning standards with rigorous content and application of higher knowledge through higher order thinking skills.

The Common Core has been developed as a nationwide measurement for student progress. Officially launched in 2009 as a federal funding bill, the standards identify skills that every student residing in the United States should master in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics from kindergarten through 12th grade (Gewertz, 2015). The Common Core itself is not a curriculum, however, it identifies rigorous objectives that must be met by a school’s curriculum. The purpose is to initiate a deeper focus on developmental learning by using interdisciplinary instruction. This redefines the way that students learn because their progress is no longer assessed on the outcome of their performance, but by the process that has allowed them to reach the

Today, many states and schools systems are adopting a standards based education system. In fact, according to Common Core Standards Initiative (2014), forty-three states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) have adopted the Common Core State Standards. The premise is that if all critical subject areas follow a standard from state to state, that all students will receive the same and fair education. The Vermont State Board of Education saw a need and a value in implementing such a system. As such, the Board created a strategic plan to implement a framework of standards that would eventually adopt the common core standards. This paper will discuss the strategic plan created by the Vermont Board of Education and evaluate whether or not the goals of the plan were met through the Framework of Standards.

Adopted by forty-two out states in 2010, the Common Core State Standard Initiative strives to provide an educational structure which details what English language arts and mathematics should be taught from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The initiative is the federal government’s attempt to ensure all students who graduate from high school are adequately prepared to enter a two or four year college or the workforce. Despite their intentions, the Common Core has caused much controversy in the education community. The thought behind Common Core is very valid and has the potential to help students, however changes must be made to unrealistic standards and wordy statements. Common Core must first be rewritten so that the language is clear and can be easily understood by the general public. Next ask experts on childhood development and elementary school teachers to review the standards and rewrite standards they see as unneeded or irrelevant as well as unrealistic.

Her philosophy of learning is “ever changing” and she believes “the learner is the most important piece of the puzzle…” . (H. Cyrus, personal communication, January 20, 2017) She works continuously with the other second grade teachers in a team to set the plan on the standards and how they will meet them each year. They do not follow a curriculum, but the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) with the Essential Learning Outcomes (ELO) and Depth of Knowledge (DOK) levels. The curriculum Math Investigations is offered in the district for her grade level, but it is not a main focus for her lessons. She utilizes curriculums provided by the district as resources and supplements for lessons alone.

The lack of educational benchmarks and standardization in the United States of America, USA is disjointed and subpar leaving students ill prepared to enter the workforce and college. As evidenced by the persistent problem of students graduating and passing required exit exams in high school; yet, they still needed remediation upon entry to college. The Common Core is good because it provides a set of age appropriate learning goals and sets a national high-quality academic standard for Math and English to prepare students for college and career readiness. In essence, the Common Core defines what a student should know and be able to do at different grade levels.

Structuring on the best of existing state standards, the Common Core State Standards provide a clear and reliable learning goal to help prepare students for college, career, and life. The standards clearly demonstrate what students are expected to learn at each grade level, so that every parent and teacher can understand and support their learning. From Kindergarten through 8th grade, grade-by-grade standards exist in English language arts/literacy and mathematics. From 9th through 12th grade, the standards are grouped into grade sets of 9th through 10th grade standards and 11th through 12th grade standards. Moreover, the CCSS stress the importance of using primary texts in the classroom to build literacy, along with many other things. While the standards set grade-specific goals, they do not define how the standards should be taught or which materials should be used to support students. States and districts know that there will need to be a range of supports in place to guarantee that all students, including those with special needs and English language learners, can master the standards. It is up to the states to outline the full range of supports appropriate for these students.

The Common Core is a set of academic standards in both mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA). These standards were created to insure that all students, no matter where in the United States and regardless of social economic standing all will acquire the necessary skills to graduate and allow for success in college and or a career. With these learning goals students progressively gain the tools for each grade. The standards define the knowledge and skills students should gain throughout their K-12 education. The standards are research and evidence based goals that include clear, understandable, and consistent lessons that are aligned with college and career expectations with higher order thinking skills. In North Carolina,

Instructors utilize the standards as a pathway for successful instruction. The creators of Common Core realized the problem between curriculum and standards. The Core’s inception argues that “the Standards define what all students are expected to know and be able to do, not how teachers should teach. For instance, the use of play with young children is not specified by the Standards, but it is welcome as a

The Common Core curriculum is intended to educate pupils for the increasingly demanding world that we exist in today. Common Core State Standards establish precise, uniform guidelines for what every school child should know and be able to do from kindergarten through 12th grade creating benchmarks for reading and math, replacing education goals that varied drastically from state to state. These new standards focus on preparing the critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills that are essential to be successful after high school, and gives teachers a means to evaluate a student’s development throughout the academic