Curriculum Leadership Institute

Pathways to School Improvement

procedures

Fidelity to the New Curriculum

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In scientific research, certain conditions need to be followed carefully in order to have reliable results.  Procedures are put in place to ensure variables are isolated because the influence of extraneous variables can greatly affect the outcome of an experiment in a favorable or negative way.  Implementing a new curriculum is similar to conducting a scientific investigation in that it is important to follow a set procedure.  Conditions need to be controlled, and progress needs to be carefully followed and monitored so the results are accurate.

Clarification: Curriculum is not the same as a textbook, textbook series, or program. Rather, it includes the unit outcomes and individual learning targets (components) that supplemental resources like textbooks or programs must align.

Focus on the Curriculum

With the external mandates of ever-higher expectations for student achievement, school officials are tempted to try a variety of methods, strategies, and programs to gain rapid results.  Sometimes a combination of programs is put into place with the hope of greater gains in student learning.  However, greater gains are not always the result, even when using research-based programs with proven success.  Instead, several variables are thrown into the mix with the lack of fidelity to one method or program.  A conglomeration approach doesn’t allow for educators to determine what really is making the difference. Furthermore, the mixture can even produce negative results. For example, it may seem like it would be helpful, but adding new resources or other instructional programs while implementing a new curriculum creates divided attention for the teachers.  When a new program is put into place at the same time as a new curriculum, it is hard for teachers to know what to “follow,” or how to merge the two, and it is impossible to determine which is truly affecting the results. If a new program is adopted within the district, it is recommended to pilot the program through another curricular area, or if that isn’t possible – to wait another year for adoption, until the new curriculum has been validated.

Supporting the Long-Range Plan

One of the first steps of action a Curriculum Coordinating Council (CCC) performs is developing a long-range plan for the district.  The CCC purposely staggers developing curriculum for the areas of math, language arts, social studies, and science so only one core area is implemented during a school year.  Not only does this help preserve the sanity of teachers responsible for multiple content areas, but it allows the new focus to be on one core area per year.

Also included on the long-range plan is the validation of the new draft curriculum. Throughout year two of the cycle, all teachers of the target subject are expected to frequently provide feedback to Subject Area Committee (SAC) members so needed changes can be made to the curriculum before it is adopted as a final product.  Teachers are specifically looking to see if students struggle with a particular outcome or component and if the pace proceeds as expected so the curriculum will be completed by the end of the year.  They should also note additional materials needed or professional training that would supplement instructional requirements within the curriculum. Collecting this information allows the SAC to make changes to the draft curriculum and request any necessary professional development training.  It also allows the committee members to help guide the selection of supporting resources, which takes place during year three of the long-range plan.

Assessing the Curriculum for Results

During the year a new curriculum is implemented, students may have some growing pains due to increases in expected knowledge or skills. Teachers may have to review some concepts to get students ready to learn or create stepping stones when skills are expected at earlier levels. The pains of the transition from the old to the new curriculum decrease in the following years. In the meantime, frequent checks of student understanding must take place not only to guide instruction but also to help validate the curriculum. Assessing student learning exclusively on the curriculum is critical.  If new resources or old assessments are utilized instead of tightly aligned assessments, results are invalid and we won’t know the true impact of the curriculum. Reliable results are needed before changes can be made and the curriculum approved as a final document.

By modeling the carefully placed steps of scientific study, a newly adopted curriculum can be implemented with validity and reliability.  Fidelity to the curriculum has to be the priority in order to gain the desired results.

Photo Credit: Louis Reed

Build-A-House: An Educational Analogy

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The processes of curriculum, instruction, and assessment schools should use to assure student learning might be compared to the steps of building a house. Let’s look at those steps and compare them to best practices in education… from what is established at the district-level, through all the stages of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, to what is mandated of schools by the state or other accrediting agencies.

1. You wouldn’t hand over your hard-earned money to a contractor and simply say, “Go build me a house.” You would decide ahead of time what kind of house you wanted, and, in general, what the finished house would be like. In other words, you would have a plan or blueprint that describes the overall building project.

Equivalent: The initial blueprint is like a district mission statement with student exit outcomes.

2. The next thing to be decided is all the elements of the plan and who will execute them, such as a plumber to do the plumbing, carpenters to do the carpentry, electricians for electricity and so forth.

Equivalent: The subjects for which there will be established curriculum need to be decided upon and are often listed in a district mission statement. Qualified teachers are needed to teach those subjects.

3. Let’s select one element of the house-building project (like one subject area) to use as our example. Let’s take plumbing, and follow it all the way through. The plumber would have to know, before beginning any actual work, specifically what the overall plumbing requirements are for this particular house.

Equivalent: The plumbing is like one subject – let’s use math as our example; the overall requirements are the Subject Mission Statement for math.

4. The plumbing job then would be divided into specific projects: the master bath, the half bath, the kitchen, and so forth. The plumber looks at the purpose of each room to determine its specific plumbing needs, and how each is related to the whole project.

Equivalent: Specific courses (algebra, geometry) and grade levels (3rd grade math, 4th grade math) of the subject are identified, and purposes (or focus areas) are determined for each, so that it’s clear where each fits in accomplishing the mission of the whole K-12 math subject area.

5. Before beginning work on a particular room, the plumber decides what must be accomplished to meet the plumbing needs for that room’s purpose. If working on a master bath, the things to be accomplished include putting pipes in the walls, a drain for the shower, installing fixtures, and so forth.

Equivalent: The “room” is like one particular grade level or course; the things to be accomplished are the high achievement unit outcomes for that grade level or course.

6. Now the plumber looks at each one of those things to be accomplished, and decides the details of actually doing it – the specific tasks or steps that need to be done. To put pipes in the walls, the workers will have to measure, drill holes, fit brackets, and so forth.

Equivalent: These are like the components – or smaller “steps” – of a high achievement unit outcome.

7. The plumber must decide how to approach the work. In what order will he do the steps? What techniques will he use for each task, and what tools will he need?

Equivalent: The teacher must plan instruction, including the order in which things will be done, strategies to use, and materials that will be needed.

8. The plumber must know ahead of time what his criteria are for quality. As each task is finished, he checks to see that it has been done properly before proceeding to the next step. Errors are corrected along the way – alternative parts or procedures are used where necessary, or work is redone for better quality. When all of the steps are successfully completed, the plumber checks to see that the plumbing does indeed work as it should.

Equivalent: Teachers set criteria for quality student work. Formative assessments are given throughout instruction. Students not succeeding receive corrective assistance; others participate in enrichments when appropriate. A summative assessment then tells whether the whole outcome has been met; again correctives and enrichments are used as necessary.

9. The plumber also adheres to building and environmental codes, keeps informed about quality materials and procedures, and provides owners with instruction on care and use of plumbing.

Equivalents: Standards and other mandates are met; staff development is pertinent and on-going.