HOME | Arts | Health | Language Arts | Math/Science | Social Studies | World Languages | Glossary

Alaska Department of Education & Early Development Frameworks Project Introduction

How to Use the Framework
The Curriculum Development Process
What Curriculum Development Committees Can Do to Ensure Success

How to Use the Framework

What Is This Curriculum Framework?

A curriculum framework is a

• summary of the educational issues facing curriculum development committees;
• discussion of how state goals and standards relate to those issues;
• structure to help district curriculum development committees address the Alaska student standards;
• guide for planning professional development;
• guide to recommended instructional and assessment strategies;
• description of effective instruction and assessment strategies with an analysis of how they address the standards;
• collection of reference materials to assist curriculum development committees and other educators; and
• tool to communicate the goals of the standards to the community.

• set of detailed lesson plans;
• detailed scope and sequence of curriculum objectives; or
• mandate for specific methodologies or programs.

Who Will Use the Framework Document?

This document was written primarily to assist district curriculum development committees. These committees should include a diverse group of teachers, administrators, and community members. The committee members are encouraged to involve all interested educators and community members in an awareness of the process and issues, the development of the curriculum, and the continuous review and revision of the district's curriculum.

University preservice instructors are the secondary audience. Additionally, teachers, preservice students, board members, parents, support staff, and community members will find this valuable in their educational work.

How to Read This Document

Administrators should review the entire document, paying specific attention to the first two chapters, "How to Use the Framework" and "The Starting Point".

Curriculum development committees should read the first three chapters thoroughly for help designing their curriculum development process. They should then rely primarily on the chapters that address their focus content area with reference to the other content areas to provide integration and connections wherever possible.

Words that appear in bold in the text are defined in the glossary at the end of the document.

How to Order and Use the Reference Kits

The Reference Kits are collections of reference books, articles, and tapes for curriculum development committee members. They contain excellent models and ideas for curriculum, instruction, assessment, and school change. Curriculum committees may borrow these kits and review the materials. They may choose to purchase from the publishers multiple copies of the materials they find most useful. In addition to copyrighted books and videotapes, the kits contain non-copyrighted, reproducible material.

Reference Kits will be loaned on an as-available basis to other interested parties for other purposes. They are particularly useful for professional development and preservice education. The contents of each Reference Kit are listed in the individual content area sections.

Your committe may contact the Department of Education & Early Development in Juneau, Alaska, and request to borrow Reference Kit.

A Brief History of the Frameworks

In 1991, Alaska embarked on an educational reform effort, Alaska 2000, which paralleled the national America 2000 educational initiative, later known as Goals 2000. By 1995 this process resulted in the Alaska 2000 Standards in ten content areas. These standards enunciate what an Alaskan student should know, be able to do, and be committed to, and they are an important first step in raising the expectations of our education system.

The US Department of Education provided framework development grants. The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development applied for and received grants to create frameworks for each of the content areas of this document. Each content section was written by committees of educators and experts. These were reviewed and revised through multiple public mailings and meetings. The English/Language Arts, Social Studies, and Mathematics/Science Frameworks documents were completed in 1995. Arts and World Languages are scheduled for completion by 1996. No frameworks grants were offered for the content areas of Technology and Healthy Life Skills. While no frameworks are available to help Alaskan curriculum committees with these content areas, standards are listed in the Reference Point appendix of this document.

Goals 2000 assures "Unlike other Federal assistance, Goals 2000 does not add another program to existing ones; rather, it seeks to blend Federal, State, and local efforts into a cohesive educational approach that will enable all children to attain high standards of performance in the State's academic subjects." Like Goals 2000, Alaska 2000's standards and frameworks suggest not what districts, schools, and teachers can do in addition to their current efforts, but what they can do in place of the status quo.

The Curriculum Development Process

In the past, curriculum development committees were typically composed of the teachers with expertise in the content area who were asked to create scope and sequence documents and to suggest texts and other resources for adoption by school districts. Our understanding of curriculum development has changed. The process is now viewed as an opportunity to develop understanding and ownership by the participants, and hence curriculum development committees include members of all parties with interests in the educational system. Identifying and sequencing the content can have a more positive effect on student achievement when it is combined with effective instructional and assessment strategies as well as a supportive school environment. Therefore, the job of curriculum development committees is more extensive than in the past. Curriculum development committees must research effective practices in order to support school environments that offer rich and varied learning experiences. They must review policies and behaviors that foster community involvement and equitable opportunities for all. They must consider professional development activities to support the content, instruction, and assessment expectations. The expectations of curriculum development committees cross some boundaries into what were previously defined as administrative roles. While some curriculum development committees might not have the time, resources, or power to assume all of these roles, they can consider the importance of each of the issues raised in this document and delegate related responsibilities to others who can effect these changes.

Assumptions

• A quality curriculum development process addresses what students should know, be able to do, and be committed to (content), how it is taught (instruction), how it is measured (assessment), and how the educational system is organized (context).
  
• Every aspect of curriculum development should model inclusive, learner-centered instruction. In other words, district curriculum development committee meetings and district professional development should mirror best teaching practices. Curriculum development, instruction, and assessment should be open, fair processes. Everyone involved must know the purposes for every activity, the materials or processes to be used, the definition of success, and the consequences of failure.
  
• The goal should be to encourage individuals to be independent, yet collaborate effectively; be self-evaluative yet take others' perceptions into account; be voracious learners, yet commit themselves to a balanced education.
  
• Curriculum development should reflect the fact that students learn better when topics and concepts are tied together through interdisciplinary curriculum and thematic instruction.
  
• Curriculum for educating and assessing young children should follow early childhood education guidelines and include involvement of parents and the early childhood community.
  
• The curriculum development process must assume that students develop at different times; levels or stages must be looked at as ranges rather than specific grade levels or single-age categories.
  
• Educational accountability means that the district has a clear statement of standards and expectations for students, teachers, instructional aides, parents, district officials, and all others who participate in the particular education community. Both standards and assessments must be known and credible to the entire community. Standards must be evaluated by a variety of assessments. Any evaluation process must identify the measurement yardsticks (processes, instruments), the purposes for measuring, the measurement points or descriptors, and the consequences of meeting or not meeting the stated expectations.
  
• Professional development should be provided for the curriculum development committee and, when implementing the new curriculum, teachers and staff also need professional development. A significant investment in professional development must be an integral part of any curriculum development process.
  
• The educational structures must be flexible to allow for the integration of curriculum across the disciplines in cases where such integration would improve motivation of the students and relevance of the content.
  
• These assumptions must lead to rethinking the conventional structure and schedule of schools in terms of school day, school year, grade levels, subject areas, graduation requirements, student grouping, and physical plant.

Why and When Should a District Revise Curriculum?

Although the curriculum development process results in a curriculum document, an equally important outcome is the involvement of teachers and community members in the process. Teachers, parents, and community members who have contributed to the process will be willing participants in the implementation of the curriculum. Curriculum should be revised not only to address new research findings and the resulting new visions, but also to involve new participants in those visions. Each Alaska school district has its own curriculum development process. This variation notwithstanding, all curriculum plans must be based on a planned cycle of renewal of no longer than six year's duration. (See the Alaska School Curriculum Regulations in the Reference Points appendix of this document.) Districts should study this state framework document and begin a process that will prepare their curriculum development committees to address the Alaska content standards in their next revision cycle.

What Curriculum Development Committees Can Do to Ensure Success

The following curriculum development process provides step-by-step suggestions for organizing the work of your curriculum development committee. Your committee may choose a different process although it should contain these basic components.

A. Create a Functional and Collaborative Process.

1. Establish district curriculum/instruction/assessment committee(s). If you establish committees focusing on separate content areas, design a schedule that allows for collaboration and integration discussions. Seriously consider establishing interdisciplinary committees. Consider the following members:
   

   District Curriculum Coordinator	Teachers
   Parents/Community Representatives	Principals
   Library/Media Specialists	Students
   District Assessment Specialists	Content Specialists
   Business Representatives	University Faculty

   
   
2. Plan an initial training on group processes to facilitate productive cooperation.
   
3. Analyze the Alaska 2000 Goals, the Alaska content standards and key elements, and reform suggestions from professional organizations. Become very familiar with the basic premises of these documents. Reading and study groups are effective for this purpose.
   
4. Develop a mission and philosophy statement for the district in light of district or state standards.
   
5. Create an environment in which all committee members can identify and communicate their roles within the committee, who they represent, and their stake in this change.
   
6. Develop a timeline for the curriculum revision process. The timeline needs to conform to the six-year review process required by Alaska Statutes.
   
7. Develop a system for soliciting information, communicating your decisions, and receiving teacher and community feedback at each step of the process. Work to ensure the support of local and district personnel and community members such as

   School Board Members, who can

   • serve as strong advocates of curriculum transformation,
   • provide strong public support for standards-based instructional programs;

   Superintendents, who can

   • establish a support system that promotes risk taking,
   • provide adequate resources for curriculum development, professional development, and assessment;

   Curriculum Coordinators, who can

   • collect information and current research,
   • provide leadership in planning and coordinating the curriculum reform effort;

   Principals, who can

   • study research-based instructional issues,
   • promote action research in their schools,
   • support risk taking and creativity in teachers,
   • allocate time and resources for curriculum, instruction, and assessment development;

   Teachers, who can

   • collect information on current effective practices in their schools,
   • provide demonstration lessons to the public and their colleagues;

   Parents/Community Representatives, who can

   • share their expertise and experiences,
   • serve as cooperative advisors, editors, and advocates for their children; and

   Students, who can

   • help define acceptable levels of expectations,
   • identify motivating practices to improve student participation.

8. Develop and implement an ongoing, systematic process for evaluating progress.

B. Make a Curriculum Inventory. Identify Gaps.

1. Identify what is currently being taught and the local expertise in the district.

2. Solicit the thoughts, recommendations, and feelings about the current strengths and weaknesses and the future curriculum needs from all community members.

3. Cluster and compare the results of the inventory. Make decisions about what is needed.

C. Develop the Curriculum and Assessment Guidelines.

1. Establish subcommittees for the different student grouping levels (preschool, primary, intermediate, and middle and high school) or create another process that ensures representation of teachers from all levels.

2. Determine performance standards that are appropriate for students at different levels. (The Department of Education & Early Development is currently developing Alaska student performance standards for students at benchmark ages 8-10, 12-14, and 16-18.)

3. Determine expectations and model assessments for each level and develop model portfolios that demonstrate the attainment of student standards.

4. Implement the feedback and editing process on the new curriculum.

D. Create Classroom Instructional Models That Support the Curriculum and Assessment Guidelines.

1. Choose topics that can address one or more standards. Choose some topics that are integrated across several disciplines to provide effective interdisciplinary models.

2. Choose instructional methods and assessment strategies.

3. Identify how the instruction will prepare the students to meet the Alaska content standards.

4. Choose supportive curricular materials and technology.

5. Ask teachers to pilot specific instructional methods in their classrooms. Solicit feedback and editing.

6. Revisit your Curriculum and Assessment Guidelines. Modify if necessary.

E. Identify Resources Needed. Determine Budgetary Demands and Priorities.

1. Support the use or development of facility resources that encourage cooperative work, community connections, and applications in real-life contexts. Classrooms should have tables that promote small-group cooperative activities. Students should have ready access to the world outside of the school building through telecommunications and doorways. Electrical outlets must be adequate and dependable to support the increased technology in the classroom. Buildings should be wired to support local area networking via computers.

2. Review hiring practices to guarantee that districts recruit highly qualified teachers who are reflective of the local cultures and have specific training in a variety of instructional and assessment strategies.

3. Provide cultural sensitivity workshops for all personnel.

4. Ensure that adequate time resources are provided for teachers as described in the section on Preservice Education and Professional Development.

F. Provide Professional Development Opportunities for All District/School Personnel.

1. Provide both method and content classes to all interested parties, including instructional aids and classroom volunteers.

2. Create networking opportunities through technology among teachers, administrators, and community members on the local, regional and national levels.

3. Encourage teacher reflection and classroom-based research.

4. Refer to the next section on Preservice Education and Professional Development for more details.
   

Contents | Starting Point