Principles of Curriculum Development reviewed the various foundations of curriculum and the theories of instruction and learning. Beginning with the history of education, the public education has progressed and was influenced by the actions and occurrences in the government. Many theorists impacted curriculum with their ideas on zone of proximal development, inquiry learning, cooperative learning, and learning techniques. Several learning styles and techniques discussed in the course are utilized today in my school and continue to enhance student learning. Meeting the needs of students will improve their learning and can be done by using instructional strategies like cooperative learning where students can collaboratively work, graphic organizers, and the project or inquiry based learning model. Paying attention to how a student learns best, whether a visual, auditory, tactile, or kinesthetic learner, can be another way of meeting student needs. When needing to remediate students in RtI or MTSS, using teacher-led small group differentiated instruction is another method for instructional delivery. Classroom instructional practices should be monitored and feedback given to ensure student achievement.
To demonstrate, the TK20 assignments of the principal interview and classroom walk-through observations highlighted many of the learning objectives. Interviewing my principal, Patti Carson, emphasized the guidance and directive from the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) and Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) when it comes to determining what standards and instructional goals should be used to measure learning. In addition, the curriculum for our school is determined by DCPS with approval from the FLDOE. However, at Ma...
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...udent learning. As a school principal, allowing teachers time to collaboratively plan and work toward the common goal of improving student achievement should be a priority. Taking time to address and measure instructional needs and proficiency is an effective way of not only improving student learning for improving instructional practice. Through all of the changes in education, one thing remains the same. A productive and effective school has effective teachers and is run by an effective principal. Being an administrator for 22 years was not an easy task for Ms. Carson, but one that wouldn’t be changed for the world. Reflecting on this interview, it is apparent that an administrator has many important roles and duties that must be fulfilled. Managing people and data to reach the ultimate goal of student achievement is very rewarding but takes time and effort.
I had the pleasure of being able to shadow Superintendent Shirley Hall of the Maplewood School District. Ms. Hall took the reins of the district over in 2012 from a very popular superintendent who was credited with making great strides within the district. Although Ms. Hall had very large shoes to fill, she seems to be doing it with grace and enthusiasm. She credits the previous superintendent with making systemic changes and establishing the overall forward momentum of the district, but recognizes that she cannot rest on past success. Her goal is to take the district to the next level of educational excellence by focusing her and her administrative team's efforts on the P.E.L.P. coherence model from Harvard University.
As a leader candidate, I can understand the challenges and multiplicity of complications that administrators must face each day. However, I will not accept any remote possibility that the students must be affected by some flaws of the school organization. We all as leaders, must be strategic with people, time, and money to guide our students towards an academic success.
behaviors which includes ; defining and communicating shared goals, monitor and provide feedback on the teaching and learning process, and promote school-inclusive professional development. Communicating shared goals encompass activities that emphasis attention to the methodological core of schools. Locke and Latham, (1990) lamented that these goals increase the effort exerted by school members, increase perseverance, and increase the development of schemes which will in turn
An effective school leader possesses skills to create, implement, evaluate, improve and share a staff development plan. I met with Ben Rhodes, Sandy Creek Middle School’s principal, to interview him on the specific elements of his yearly staff development plan. We began with the design process focusing on the district and school goals. District goals include improving literacy across the content areas in reading and writing, Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum (GVC). Guaranteed and Viable Technology (GVT), and Closing the Achievement Gap (Equity in Excellence). Using a variety of assessments to focus on specific needs, Ben Rhodes and Mary Sonya, our Pupil Achievement Specialist, examined CSAP, Explore, MAP, and RAD data. They use the Colorado Growth Model to help guide them to determine if students have made adequate yearly progress. Together, they created the plan that included the district goals mentioned above as well as continuing to include new technology skills, information on special education changes with Response to Intervention (RTI), maintaining current staff implementation of literacy goals and a new goal of raising achievement in math.
School administrators are important in setting the path for a successful school (Glickman, et al., 2014). The principals could play a dynamic leadership depending on how they exercise their beliefs of the organizational and social environment (McNair, 2011). The principals are the primary facilitators for developing the foundations in learning that will last, to manage the student’s performance at schools, and seeking the improvement at school that will cause great impacts in school‘s education (Gordon,1989). In the recent years in the U.S., education has change in a more cultural diversity population, it is imperative that school supervisors, are trained to encounter this cultural issues, but also assisting others with the opportunities to develop appropriate abilities to deal with different cultures (Glickman, et al., 2014).
Newspaper articles and websites about those organizations and the people connected to them instructional leadership. Examples of organizations such as Michelle Reed, Teach for America, and The New Teacher Project are a few (Rigby, 2014). The focus was on three out of the eight Dimensions when writing the memo notes. Number one focused on the underline assumption that all leaders share a commitment to bring educational opportunities to all students. Number two, leaders focused on the practice of instructional leadership. The third Dimension is the role of the teachers. Teacher’s characteristics have the biggest or largest impact on student learning inside of schools. The research shows that school leaders influence teachers such as with their type of their instructional leadership style they should develop trust and professional community. Majority of principal’s instructional leadership action is focused on the teachers through direct interaction such as observations and feedback (Rigby, 2014). The three largest instructional leadership research found that there was an assumption that the primary role of the principle is that of instructional leader how it is conceptualized and what it looks
Currently I am co teaching a fifth grade class of eleven students. The class is a general education class with four students who have disabilities. My main focus for the class is teaching the human body system and implementing writing into the class. Differentiation of instruction is something we need to show that we are implanting in our classroom. There are four levels of differentiation of instruction; content, process, product, and affect. What we teach, how we teach it; how students demonstrate what they have learned, and how students feel about what they are learning is what DI is about. Educators need to start by choosing the best content that will help all of their students. The content not only has to relate to the subject matter, but need to connect to their culture. The process is also a crucial component of DI and Santamaria feels that the best thing to do for the students is having them work in groups, but Utley took an individual approach to DI. Santamaria feels that cooperative learning stimulates learning. The last component to DI is the product. This could be as simple as allowing the students to present their final product
Principal Pettis has to come to the realization that it is not possible to “have all the competence, all the time, and all the information needed at any one time to get the job done.” (Sergiovanni, 2015, p. 12). She will have to empower and cultivate leadership skills in teacher-leaders to give her an equitable perspective on the needs of her school. In this way, learning is ongoing for all, making the important connection between leadership and learning that is so powerful in successful schools. With these few changes, the heartbeat of the school is
Leadership is an important factor in managing change in organizations (Sarros & Santora, 2001). Leadership is one of the most vital success factors in organization (Murphy & Ensher, 2008). At any time in history of any community, there has always been a great leader and leadership has always been practiced (Leech & Fulton, 2008). For all successful organizations, there has been an effective leader who is able to mobilize all the resources in the organization to achieve its goals (Malusu, 2003). Schools, like other organizations, require effective leadership to achieve their goals (Barnet, McCormick & Conners, 2001). In an educational system, a principal as the coordinator of all educational and training activities
Jacobs, H. H. (1997). Mapping the big picture: Integrating curriculum and assessment. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Curriculum Differentiation One of the most urgent challenges teachers face today is creating a classroom environment where all students are simultaneously engaged in meaningful activities. Too many times students may either become lost as the teacher continues on with the lesson or the material may not be advanced enough, thus becoming boring for students. The implementation of curriculum differentiation is a sustainable solution to this prevalent dilemma. In some parts of the world, the teacher will come into the classroom, write the title of the lesson on the board, and ask one of the students to read aloud as the rest of the class listens. When the student finishes reading, the lesson is considered to be taught.
According to Marsh (2010) curriculum is “An interrelated set of plans and experiences which students complete under the guidance of the school or early childhood settings.”(p. 93). The curriculum is many things, it is a document containing a set of expected performance outcomes and content to guide teachers. Curriculum can also be the delivery of objectives and personal experiences to accelerate student learning (A. Smith, personal communication, April 10, 2014).
When it comes to implementing a curriculum everyone has an opinion. Whether it is the organization of the curriculum or the evaluation of the curriculum, everyone from administers, teachers, and parents will have their opinions on the new curriculum. The curriculum development group has many difficult decisions to make. They have to decide when and how to implement, who will be in charge, what data will be collected, and how will the curriculum be evaluated.
With the proper guidance and support, teachers can achieve academic excellence in the classroom. They follow their principal’s vision and share their goals. Teachers also serve as leaders in their classroom. They share their vision and goals with their students promoting positive attitudes in the classroom. Just like it is important for principals to respect and understand what their teachers need, students also need the support, understanding, respect and empathy from their teachers. When teachers demonstrate commitment in the classroom and set high expectations they raise the level of learning in the classroom. Teachers that work with the students and their parents to understand and meet their needs will achieve positive academic outcomes. Students engage in learning with positive attitudes and strive for high achievements. Teachers work together with their leaders to improve their teaching
Curriculum development is the first step used by a teacher to help them develop engaging lessons. One of the most useful tools to help develop curriculum is backwards design. Backward design helps to maintain a clear focus as to where the lesson leads (Marzano, 2010). Developing a clear and concise lesson not only helps the teacher; it helps the students as well.