Eda 561: The History Of Curriculum Planning

Middle school is a period of transition for adolescents. Students are no longer the children were once were in elementary school; they are beginning to mature into the adults they will need to become. Gifted learners at the middle-school level face the same developmental and tasks tasks and challenges that their peers do. Yet, gifted learners also possess traits that are different from their peers, which often make them misunderstood or ignored. The need for teachers to identify these students and differentiate instruction in a way that addresses the needs of the gifted students in the classroom is becoming more crucial than ever.

There are many approaches that can be taken in order to develop a school’s curriculum, or the material that the students will learn. If there were no federal regulation of curriculum, then it would not be possible to compare student achievement across districts or even states. The federal program, Common Core State Standards, assists in equaling education across the nation. The Common Core has reinvented the perception of student learning which, in turn, has caused American education to become a corporate institution. As a result, there has been a threat to states’ rights for education as more rigorous content has been implemented into classrooms by the government, which ultimately changes the role of the teacher.

Strategies for teaching ELL students in the general education classrooms are also very important. The ELL teachers gave some great

Teachers have begun to question the practices of ELL students in receiving services and the regular education they will receive in some content areas. Though there is often a negative perception towards these students it seems it is on the side of the teacher and the additional work and accommodations they will need to provide and alter to meet a student’s needs. I was happy to speak with the ELL teacher and gain some insight on the current efforts to provide high expectations for ELL students through the use of additional tutors and opportunities. However, if we are not careful and if we stop questioning our practices on responses to ELL students, we will ultimately allow these practices to become stable and controlling.

This chapter focuses on the versatility of the ELL within our classrooms. There are a couple points that are highlighted within the article, but the main focus seemed to be around assessment of the student and the instruction. Those were two components that defined how the student would be instructed to get the best outcome for improvement in English proficiency in literature and language. Although each ELL student has their own unique pattern, they may align with a general profile characteristic, which can lead the teacher in the general direction that will hopefully best fit the need of that student. Then the instruction process is just as tedious as the assessment, but is necessary for the student to continue advancing within their classes.

First, taking ELL classes will improve their academic achievement, because there are much smaller class sizes. Each student gets noticed, so fewer students means that each one get attention from the teacher, and they are encouraged and pushed to

Currently the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Act of 1988 is the only national law which directly addresses gifted children, and is the sole channel for federal funding of gifted education (Russo and Ford; Inman and Kirchner 10). The Act reinstated, expanded, and updated programs which had been cut, but it has several limitations (Russo and Ford). It does not address the needs of students or mandate creation of gifted programs (Inman and Kirchner 10; Russo and Ford). Instead, it allocates money, ranging from $0 to $11.2 million, for research grants (Inman and Kirchner 10). It also does not set “substantive or procedural due process safeguards” as IDEA does (Russo and Ford). Although the Act has great intentions, it can be ignored by states or districts which do not place priority on gifted students (Russo and Ford).

Through the use of capabilities and priorities, the curriculum has become a naturally integrated syllabus inclusive of developing skills relating to 21st century active and informed citizenship. The Australian curriculum is an inclusive, integrated program with the combination of the curriculum key learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities formed from the goals stated within the Declaration (Churchill et al., 2013). The general capabilities cater towards seven essential skills of a 21st century learner such as numeracy, literacy, information and communication technology, personal and social capability, critical and creative thinking, intercultural understanding and ethical understanding that can make part of any learning

The topic of gifted and talented education is one that has always sparked debates among parents and teachers, and recent movements towards totally integrating classrooms have added to this debate. For many years now, "average" children, gifted and

When an educational system realizes that one size does not fit all students, leaders will rise to bring about reform to meet the needs of students, leading them to success. Education reform requires forward thinking, courageous leadership to insist on an individualized approach to learning. Just as health care provides diagnosis and treatment, education should focus on the unique needs of each student (Reville, 2015). Individualized learning plans can benefit all students, not just those identified as gifted, or those with specific learning disabilities. Courageous leaders recognize the effectiveness of the inclusion of ESE students into rigorous academic programs. Learning alongside honors students, with expectations set high,

    College campuses are used to further an individual's intelligence, and it allows the students to compete for better paying jobs. Along with the apprehension of information that allows students to go on to pursue a higher level profession, the responsibility aspect of ethical and moral liability also increases. Students who graduate from college campuses should be held to a higher standard when it comes to ethical and moral accountability. Also, having great professors to teach ethics and morals in a classroom is a very important issue because when anyone learns anything from someone they must respect that person.  I believe that moral instruction and ethical content should be a required part of the college curriculum because it increases the required respect towards one another in a professional environments.

According to the glossary for Education Reform, the definition of curriculum is “the lessons and academic content taught in a school or in a specific course or program.” (S. Abbott (Ed.), 2014) This term, curriculum, can be as simple as a unit plan for a specific subject or as complex as district mandated lessons for an entire department. My focus will be on issues surrounding how curriculum is developed, how decisions are made on who teaches what, and how curriculum is implemented all within the California public school system. I believe the core mission of being a teacher is to deliver meaningful curriculum to our students which will allow them to successfully pass each grade level and become productive members of society. How do we, as

Students who are identified as gifted and talented in schools receive special supports that very in model and instructional practices greatly (Bui, Craig, & Imberman, 2012; Esquierdo & Arreguín-Anderson, 2012; Young & Balli, 2014). Bui et al. (2012) asserted there are currently three million students who are classified as gifted in schools; however, demographics including girls, students with learning disabilities, students from poverty, and bilingual students are significantly underrepresented in gifted and talented programs (Esquierdo & Arreguín-Anderson, 2012; Stormont, Stebbins, & Holliday, 2001). Research (Esquierdo & Arreguín-Anderson, 2012; Milner et al., 2009; Reid & Roberts, 2006; Stormont et al., 2001; Young & Balli, 2014) has demonstrated, in specific cases that support services for identified and also unidentified gifted students has been beneficial to the achievement of students nevertheless Bui et al. (2012) posited research findings signifying no causal effect between gifted and talented support programs and high student achievement.

The Curriculum Project was an amazing experience to not only apply what I’ve learned in class about education to teacher, but to also reinforce my presumptive notions of my teaching abilities and help me work on the issues that I have with teaching as well. My overall goal of the class for the students was to teach them art lingo and simple ceramic techniques so they can gain a new skill and properly talk about it. My goal for myself was to practice teaching with how I explain things and give examples instead of directly showing without explaining. I did complete my goal for the most part, but this project is just part of a longer journey to perfect my teaching abilities, whether it be a classroom setting or another setting like parenting or the supervising in a workplace. I’ve analyzed several aspects of this project to enhance how I will conquer teaching in the future including the recommendations from a professional artist, my expectations for how the class would play out, how it actually played out, and the students’ assessment results.

“The period between 1965 and the end of the 1980s witnessed significant developments, not only in the provision of post-primary schooling in Ireland, but also in the way in which schooling was understood.”