Chapter 6: Curriculum, Testing and Stanards

Curriculum
Curriculum plays an important role in the classroom, therefore it is necessary that students recieve a well rounded, complete curriculum; that doesn't just focus on common core , State or Test standards. Curriculum today should rely on engaging the students, critical thinking and the dealing with complex social and practical issues.

Standards of learning

• NCLB - 2001, Annual math, reading, and science testing. School and teacher evaluations. Seperates, race, ethnicity and cultural ackground. Does more harm than good in terms of budget and improving education.
• Common Core - Identify skills and content students should master at each gradelevel, then teach in accordance to those goals. Lots in favor and in opposition of the standards put forth. All states but 5 have accepted Common Core.
• Standardized Tests - USing standardized testing as a means to hold students and teachers accountable to a score deemed acceptable or not. Creates more harm than good, adding anxiety to both students and faculty alike.

Problems with Stadardized tests

• Cambells Law - As the importance of scores and quantitive means of assessment increase so does the likelyhood that students will cheat to compensate.
• Student/teacher stress - teachers are forced to teach in accordance to tests, having their ob security rest as the fate of whether their students recieve high or low scores. Students social and acedemic placement are based on these tests, as well as their relationship with their parents/guardians who want them to do well.
• Curriculum Shrinking - These tests take away from the curriculum of the class. Forcing tachers to focus on test preparation opposed to what they are passionate about teaching.
• High test scores do not equate to higher learning - No correlation has been proven that high schores are the result of student comprehension, but rather are due to programming or memorization.

Alfie Kohn
A teacher and researcher who believes that student success stems from personalized learning, recognizing the uniquness of students and not adhereing to a lockstep curriculum.

Alfie Kohn
A teacher and researcher who believes that student success stems from personalized learning, recognizing the uniquness of students and not adhereing to a lockstep curriculum.

Authentic Assessment

• A form of assessment that guages actual student performance. Requires students to synthesize information, involves critical thinking, and insights to what the student has learned.
• Types of authentic assesment: Poem, projects, portfolio, exhibitions and demonstrations.