Syllabus for EDL-520

STANDARDS-BASED CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT, PRE-K–12

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Curriculum revision is an ongoing process that requires professional guidance and support. Potential educational leaders need to understand the importance of curriculum development in the success of the educational experience and recognize the organization and relevance of curriculum change. Through the examination of various curriculum designs, educators will visualize an overview of systematic curriculum development. Standards-Based Curriculum Development, Pre-K–12 allows students to examine essential components of a cohesive curriculum based on such influences as national and state standards established to guide local curricular planning and development to meet the changing needs of students and other stakeholders in a diverse community. Processes for development of curricula at classroom, building, and district levels, regardless of grade, academic discipline, or kind of student, will be considered in preparation for hands-on experience in creating curriculum in the student's primary discipline. Integrating differentiated instruction through various curriculum designs will allow the educator to develop necessary skills, as an instructional leader, to facilitate his or her faculty's creation of successful curriculum documents. The entire process, from initial needs assessment to implementation, will be the focus of this course. (ISLLC 1, 2, 4, 5; NJDOE 1, 2, 4, 5).

COURSE OBJECTIVES

On successful completion of this course, you should be able to accomplish the following:

1. Use national and state standards as the bedrock for developing curriculum for a diverse student population.
2. Analyze the elements needed for curriculum change and the practical aspects of the change process in improving curriculum.
3. Develop curriculum through needs assessment related to district, building, and classroom environments.
4. Guide members of faculty through exploration and mapping to determine structure and organization of curriculum.
5. Develop and organize both goals and objectives as preparation for curriculum design based on appropriate, prescribed standards.
6. Integrate differentiated instruction in curriculum designs to meet the educational standards.
7. Use integrated curriculum strategies to enhance the concept of educational relevance.
8. Assess the distinctions between a standards-based curriculum and one emerging from alternative approaches to curriculum, and analyze the roles of school leaders arising from different models.
9. Develop a leadership model using the mission statement or district philosophy that provides an agenda to include key stakeholders in curriculum and instructional activities in a school setting to maximize student achievement.

10. Design an organizational structure for a school that involves staff, parents, students, and community participants and that reflects legitimate participation and meets the elements of responsible leadership.
11. Compare and contrast the strategies and techniques for creating school cultures and climates conducive to learning and assess the school leader’s role in achieving the desired climate.
12. Assume the role of an instructional leader in actively planning, organizing, coordinating, and implementing an actual curriculum design for a particular area.
13. Analyze the barriers to instructional improvement and devise ways to overcome those problems.
14. Design a process to supervise instructional faculty and staff, planning for and implementing short- and long-term school improvement goals, and designing professional development programs that ensure high academic performance among all students.
15. Prepare to create a process that enables the school to evaluate its instructional progress on a regular basis, thus allowing it to accept input from stakeholders and maintain its currency in a climate of change.
16. Employ successfully a variety of research approaches that encourages critical thinking, a consideration of the local community, and an understanding of student needs and interests.

COURSE MATERIALS

You will need the following materials to do the work of the course. The required textbooks are available from the College's textbook supplier, MBS Direct.

Required Textbooks

Electronic Portfolio Registration

As a capstone experience in the Educational Leadership program, you will prepare an electronic portfolio that demonstrates your incremental achievement of the program standards. Each course in the program helps you to identify artifacts to place in your portfolio on completion of the course. To this end, you are required to purchase an electronic portfolio registration code upon your entry into the Master of Arts in Educational Leadership program.   Basic directions for purchasing access to and using your electronic portfolio are posted within the Educational Leadership Students Organization (online community).

COURSE STRUCTURE

Standards-Based Curriculum Development, Pre-K–12 is a three-credit, graduate course, consisting of eight (8) modules. Modules include topics, learning objectives, study materials (textbook readings and lecture notes), and activities. Module titles and topics/key ideas are listed below.

1. Module 1: Curriculum Design: Standards and Assessments

Topics/key ideas covered in this module include:

1. 1.1    Standards, goals, and objectives
2. 1.2    Curriculum planning and implementation
3. 1.3    Curriculum and student achievement
4. 1.4    Curriculum decision making

2. Module 2: Curriculum Processes

Topics/key ideas covered in this module include:

1. 2.1    Curriculum and group process
2. 2.2    Leaders and groups
3. 2.3    Curriculum planning groups
4. 2.4    Learning community
5. 2.5    Backward design
6. 2.6    Key design elements
7. 2.7    Clarity of goals

3. Module 3: Curriculum Development: Models, Outcomes, and School Culture

Topics/key ideas covered in this module include:

1. 3.1    Models of curriculum development
2. 3.2    Students, learning, and curriculum
3. 3.3    School culture and climate
4. 3.4    Culture and curriculum

4. Module 4: Role of Key Players in Curriculum Development

Topics/key ideas covered in this module include:

1. 4.1    Key players in curriculum development
2. 4.2    Curriculum and student learning
3. 4.3    Primary roles of curriculum leaders

5. Module 5: Overview of Curriculum Design

Topics/key ideas covered in this module include:

1. 5.1    Models of curriculum design
2. 5.2    Key terms and application
3. 5.3    Personal approach to curriculum design and development

1. Module 6: Overview of Differentiated Instruction

Topics/key ideas covered in this module include:

4. 6.1    Differentiation of staffing
5. 6.2    Differentiation of scheduling
6. 6.3    Differentiation of instruction

1. Module 7: Curriculum and Instructional Processes

Topics/key ideas covered in this module include:

1. 7.1    Developing goals and objectives
2. 7.2    Domains of learning
3. 7.3    Approaches to levels of learning
4. 7.4    Teaching and curriculum

1. Module 8: Aligning Appropriate Curriculum Design

Topics/key ideas covered in this module include:

1. 8.1    Preference for a particular curriculum design
2. 8.2    Comparison and contrast of curriculum designs
3. 8.3    Aligning appropriate curriculum design

In addition to module activities, you are required to complete a curriculum unit or project. For information about the curriculum unit or project, see the discussion below or go to the Curriculum Unit/Project area of the course Web site.

Consult the course Calendar for all assignment and project due dates.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in nine (9) online discussion forums, complete nine (9) written assignments, and submit a curriculum unit or project. See below for more details.

Consult the course Calendar for assignment due dates.

Online Discussion Forums

Each module in the course has an online class discussion forum (Module 5 has two forums). All discussion forums take place asynchronously.

Online discussions provide an opportunity for you to interact with your classmates. During this aspect of the course, you respond to prompts that assist you in developing your ideas, you share those ideas with your classmates, and you comment on their posts. Forum interactions promote development of a community of learners, critical thinking, and exploratory learning.

Please participate in online discussions as you would in constructive face-to-face discussions. You are expected to post well-reasoned and thoughtful reflections for each item, making reference, as appropriate, to your readings. You are also expected to reply to your classmates' posts in a respectful, professional, and courteous manner. You may, of course, post questions asking for clarification or further elucidation on a topic.

Written Assignments

Each module in the course concludes with a short writing assignment of about 500 words (Module 5 has two writing assignments). The writing assignments require you to write well-reasoned and thoughtful papers on questions derived from the module objectives, making reference, as appropriate, to the readings and other sources of information. You are required to use APA format for your work and for all references. Written Assignment 7, in Module 7, requires a short PowerPoint presentation.

Curriculum Unit or Project

The curriculum unit or project constitutes a principal artifact for your portfolio and counts 37% toward your grade. Choose one of the following options:

1. Curriculum Unit option—Develop an actual curriculum unit based on one of the two designs: (a) traditional design, as presented in Oliva; or (b) Essential Question through UbD, as presented in McTighe and Wiggins. Begin with an introduction including demographics and population. Follow a traditional template or the templates in Understanding by Design Professional Development Workbook, by McTighe and Wiggins, if that is your choice.

2. Project option—An alternative to the curriculum unit would be a practical project, for example, a revision of a program, participation in a curriculum design effort, or a curriculum alignment effort. Involved in this process would be an overall description of your role, an example of the work you developed or wrote, and other artifacts of your participation.

You will complete your work on the curriculum unit or project in two stages: (a) by first submitting a proposal to your mentor for feedback and approval (Stage 1) and (b) by then submitting your completed unit or project for evaluation and grading (Stage 2). Please see the Curriculum Unit/Project area of the course Web site for further details and the course Calendar for due dates.

Portfolio Artifacts and Reflective Narrative

The principal artifacts for this course are the essential question chart (Written Assignment 5.1), backward design (Written Assignment 5.2), PowerPoint presentation (Written Assignment 7.1), and the curriculum unit or project. Accompanying each artifact is a reflective narrative that describes the process and how the artifact meets specific standards and prepares you for school leadership.

Upload your artifacts to your electronic portfolio, and be certain to indicate their alignment to the applicable ISLLC standards.

GRADING AND EVALUATION

Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:  

1. Written Assignments (9)—45%
2. Online Discussions (9)—18%
3. Curriculum Unit or Project—37%

All activities will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:

To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or higher on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., assignments, discussion postings, projects, etc.). Graduate students must maintain a B average overall to remain in good academic standing.

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

First Steps to Success

To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

1. Read carefully the entire Syllabus, making sure that all aspects of the course are clear to you and that you have all the materials required for the course.

1. Take the time to read the entire Online Student Handbook. The Handbook answers many questions about how to proceed through the course and how to get the most from your educational experience at Thomas Edison State College.

1. Familiarize yourself with the learning management systems environment—how to navigate it and what the various course areas contain. If you know what to expect as you navigate the course, you can better pace yourself and complete the work on time.

1. If you are not familiar with Web-based learning be sure to review the processes for posting responses online and submitting activities before class begins.

Study Tips

Consider the following study tips for success:

1. To stay on track throughout the course, begin each week by consulting the course Calendar. The Calendar provides an overview of the course and indicates due dates for submitting assignments and posting discussions.

1. Check Announcements regularly for new course information.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Students at Thomas Edison State College are expected to exhibit the highest level of academic citizenship. In particular, students are expected to read and follow all policies, procedures, and program information guidelines contained in publications; pursue their learning goals with honesty and integrity; demonstrate that they are progressing satisfactorily and in a timely fashion by meeting course deadlines and following outlined procedures; observe a code of mutual respect in dealing with mentors, staff, and other students; behave in a manner consistent with the standards and codes of the profession in which they are practicing; keep official records updated regarding changes in name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address; and meet financial obligations in a timely manner. Students not practicing good academic citizenship may be subject to disciplinary action including suspension, dismissal, or financial holds on records.

Academic Dishonesty

Thomas Edison State College expects all of its students to approach their education with academic integrity—the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception. All mentors and administrative staff members at the College insist on strict standards of academic honesty in all courses. Academic dishonesty undermines this objective. Academic dishonesty takes the following forms:

1. Cheating
2. Plagiarizing (including copying and pasting from the Internet without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources)
3. Fabricating information or citations
4. Facilitating acts of dishonesty by others
5. Unauthorized access to examinations or the use of unauthorized materials during exam administration

1. Submitting the work of another person or work previously used without informing the mentor

6. Tampering with the academic work of other students

Academic dishonesty will result in disciplinary action and possible dismissal from the College. Students who submit papers that are found to be plagiarized will receive an F on the plagiarized activity, may receive a grade of F for the course, and may face dismissal from the College.

A student who is charged with academic dishonesty will be given oral or written notice of the charge. If a mentor or College official believes the infraction is serious enough to warrant referral of the case to the academic dean, or if the mentor awards a final grade of F in the course because of the infraction, the student and the mentor will be afforded formal due process.

If a student is found cheating or using unauthorized materials on an examination, he or she will automatically receive a grade of F on that examination. Students who believe they have been falsely accused of academic dishonesty should seek redress through informal discussions with the mentor, through the office of the dean, or through an executive officer of Thomas Edison State College.

Plagiarism

Using someone else's work as your own is plagiarism. Although it may seem like simple dishonesty, plagiarism is against the law. Thomas Edison State College takes a strong stance against plagiarism, and students found to be plagiarizing will be severely penalized. If you copy phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or whole documents word-for-word—or if you paraphrase by changing a word here and there—without identifying the author, then you are plagiarizing. Please keep in mind that this type of identification applies to Internet sources as well as to print-based sources. Copying and pasting from the Internet, without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources, constitutes plagiarism. (For information about how to cite Internet sources, see Online Student Handbook > Academic Standards > "Citing Sources.")

Accidentally copying the words and ideas of another writer does not excuse the charge of plagiarism. It is easy to jot down notes and ideas from many sources and then write your own paper without knowing which words are your own and which are someone else's. It is more difficult to keep track of each and every source. However, the conscientious writer who wishes to avoid plagiarizing never fails to keep careful track of sources.

Always be aware that if you write without acknowledging the sources of your ideas, you run the risk of being charged with plagiarism.

Clearly, plagiarism, no matter the degree of intent to deceive, defeats the purpose of education. If you plagiarize deliberately, you are not educating yourself, and you are wasting your time on courses meant to improve your skills. If you plagiarize through carelessness, you are deceiving yourself.