The Controversy: The Issue Of 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)

Apple has worked at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1970 and is currently the John Bascom Professor of Curriculum and Educational Policy Studies. Apple has taught courses “in curriculum theory, development, and research, and in the sociology of curriculum. His major interests lie in the relationship between culture and power in education and in democratizing educational policy and practice” (University of Wisconsin-Madison,

Ah Sam and Ackland (2005) defined curriculum as “… an interrelated set of plans of experiences that a student undertakes under the guidance of the school”. (p.42) While these two definitions are applied in school context, Horn and Banerjee (2009) described curriculum as the guidance of the project for a group of people. Similarly, Makura and Makura (2012) adopted the definition by Gatawa (1990) as “the instrument through which complex societies transmit and maintain cherished bodies of knowledge values and skills” (Makura & Makura, 2012, p. 509). They suggested that curricula did not exist in vacuum but shaped by a larger cultural values, traditions and beliefs of

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.

Legally, one can argue that the state has jurisdiction, but the Department of Education has a great influence over the decision to adhere to its’ demands. Through funding, “the Department of Education has a significant amount of control over public education” (Underwood, n. d., p. 5). Aside from writing curriculum's using state and district standards, our curriculum's must now incorporate the common core standards. Our curricular, methods of teaching, and resources must be modified to address the common core standards, state standard, and district standards or one risks losing

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.

Education in the United States is in an abysmal state. It continues to spiral downward as students and educators fail to meet standards. The standards are then altered on a patchwork basis throughout the states. The goal is no longer to have a high standard educational system. The goal now is to maintain the status quo, allowing students and educators to strive for the minimum. There is no common approach to achieve success. Incipit Tragoedia, in comes the Common Core, agreed upon by educators, politicians, and

Over the past few months, a new set of books has emerged from the nation's publishers, the first since the State Board of Education in Texas, driven by political conservatives and Christian evangelicals, adopted standards in 2010 for what should be included in them”( Eichenwald). The curriculum and textbooks a student learns from are essential to a solid foundation in the quality of their education. Education is the crucial building block for a student to have a fruitful future and in today's society a percentage of the best careers oblige to an absolute minimum of a higher education. It is then the obligation of parents and the educators to give the best conceivable instruction to students to set them up for school and for their future occupations. The Texas States Board of Education is currently the fool of the country because of the activities of the Texas State Board of Education whom has fizzled students by not giving the best information possible and permitting government officials with individual agendas to write the curriculum and rebuff textbooks that present a compelling bias far from the truth. “When it comes to meddling with school textbooks, Texas is both similar to other states and totally different. It’s hardly the only one that likes to fiddle around with the material its kids study in class” (Collins).And also, According to Landau

Like an epidemic terrorizing the western hemisphere, the Common Core State Standards program has swept across our nation, and at each stop, threatened a new way of thinking and learning. These standards were created to ensure that more students graduated from high school with the skills to succeed in college, life, and career, no matter where they might live (“About the Standards”). In 2009, this fresh new take on education was launched to each state’s educational leaders in the U. S. The officials of each state decided whether the implementation of the program was beneficial for them, or if the current techniques were the best option.

Since the early 2000 and the No Child Left Behind Act, the introduction of the standards-based education in the public school system came to light, and recently the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has brought on another challenge along with controversies. Some critics view it as the “same old wine in a new bottle” (McTighe and Wiggins, 2012, p. 1) but it does provide some merits and require a positive new approach instead of the old habit of “zeroing in on the grade-level standards before a careful examination of the goals and structure of the overall documents” (p. 1). Another concern is the role of the Standards. “Standards are not curriculum. A Standard is an outcome, not a claim about how to achieve an outcome” (McTighe & Wiggins,

Becker (1972) argues that schools develop a standardized curriculum stand and they decide what knowledge will be deemed acceptable. Students may refuse to learn from the teacher when they lose faith in the teachers teaching, but also when they refuse to accept the standard curriculum (Becker, 1972).

I choose this topic because education can be at times political in nature. This happens when a school budget must get approved by politicians to allow a school to function. As well as times when a state sets standards that must be followed by a school’s faculty. To better understand the role of the political culture in education it is necessary to make a link between education and public politics. Which state political cultures are the best for helping educators to prosper? Among all the political factors, political culture is a fundamental one for it determines the entire educational policy making process. Its impact includes: socializing political actors, shaping political institutions, impacting issue identification, and alternative preferences. As well as policy implementation and resource distribution. My research I believe can help educators to understand and improve the educational experience for student and teachers. By showing the relationship between the political cultural models and the freedom that teachers have in the classroom to teach. By examining existing datasets, I will be able to search for significant data points that can help educators to create the best educational policy to help achieve student

Educational philosophies influence curriculum from the establishment of the American school systems. The five major philosophies that have influence American education are: 1) Idealism, 2) Essentialism, 3) Perennialism, 4) Progressivism, and 5) Experimentalism. Idealism, Essentialism, and Perennialism are all teacher-based philosophies putting the teacher at the core of the educational experience, with students being passive members of the classroom. In contrast, Progressivism and Experimentalism are student-centered philosophies that focus on the child and their contribution and participation in the formation of classroom experiences, using teachers as guides to help students in their educational development. Although the philosophies differ, many of them define curriculum as a encompassing unit of goals, methods, materials and assessment.

Currently, instructors are pressured by state education department to adjust school curricula to meet the expectations of the standardized test. Educators alter the curriculum to “match the [standardized] test” (“How Standardized”). Therefore, instructors are limited and classroom instruction is focused around test preparation for the annual standardized test. Teachers are forced to abandon their creative lessons and “teach the test,” or concentrating only on the material that will be evaluated (“How Standardized”). This frequently involves taking multiple choice tests that are formatted identically to the standardized test and only memorizing facts, formulas, and items included only on the standardized tests (“How Standardized”). Even though test scores may improve, students are not learning how to think critically and perform better in other subjects that are not on the test (“How Standardized”). Instructional time is limited in the other subject areas such as science, social studies, music, and art. Instructors feel “handicapped” and plead to state officials abandon these standardized tests for the sake of the “quality of the instruction in American schools” (Zimmerman 206). School curricula are being modified only to prepare students for a single test, not for education the students need in the future.

Curriculum is a term often highlighted during discourse about education and most commonly understood as a policy with overt leaning outcomes for teachers to apply and achieve. Ornstein and Hunkins (1998), as cited by Selvaraj (2010), defined curriculum based on two lenses; micro and macro, which identify the term as both policy towards certain goals and what students experience with consideration for relevant theories and principles central to its development and implementation. However, Wilson (n.d.) argued that curriculum is not restricted to certain individuals, subjects and environments, since teaching and learning can also occur beyond the scope of official curriculum (Ebert & Culyer, as cited in Marsh, Clarke & Pittaway, 2014). I believe this interpretation is the closest to the true nature of curriculum, or education, as there are more complex layers to curriculum than just a written guideline. For example, not one curriculum is similar to another because it is subjected to influences from continuum number of factors, such as politics and economy. Hence, it is wise to conclude that curriculum could not be defined based on a singular perspective due to its dependability on context.