M.Ed.
Specialization: Curriculum and Instruction
· Select 3 societal trends that have had an impact on children and families in the last two decades. For each trend:
a) Describe the nature of its impact on children and families.
b) Discuss how the trend has affected children in schools and the kinds of needs children manifest in schools as a result of the trend, and
c) Suggest ways schools can address the needs of children who are impacted by the trend.
· Identify three curriculum changes that you think would significantly improve the overall effectiveness of the public school curriculum? You are a teacher in a public school that has implemented these changes as mentioned above. What procedures would you utilize to adopt and implement these curricular changes? Discuss and explain your response.
· What is “accountability” in curriculum development and implementation? What has been the impact of ‘accountability” on educational standards over the past few years. How has accountability impacted curriculum development and implementation? Explain and defend your response in detail.
· The State Board of Education in Tennessee has restructured the high school curriculum. The restructure stipulates a two-path system. One path to prepare the student for college while the other path to prepare the student for “the world of work.” Explain and evaluate the ‘two path’ curriculum in place in Tennessee high schools. Be sure to elaborate on the advantages and disadvantages you see in the “two path” system.
· The process of originating, changing, or improving the learning experiences provided by the school is described as curriculum development. Criteria used for selecting curricular content, in many school districts, has been validity, significance, and relevance to social needs. Assume that you are responsible for curriculum development/improvement in your school. How would you involve the stakeholders (educators, students, parents, community representatives) of the school in site-based decisions to achieve the goal of improving the curriculum. Describe specific procedures you would utilize in this endeavor.
· What changes in the area of curriculum and instruction and assessment do you think would be most helpful in improving the overall performance of students in schools? In your answer include “why” and “how” the changes you suggest would improve student performance in our schools.
· As educators strive to fulfill their responsibility of providing quality educational programs for the youth of the nation’s schools, the process utilized to make these curricular decisions receives significant attention through educational research and writing. The educational literature describes consensus as one of the productive procedures and decision models that can be utilized by formal and informal curricular study groups. I-LEAD (1990) defined consensus as “A decision collectively reached by team members after all have had an opportunity to influence the decision and all are ready to support it without sabotage.”
Why is the concept of consensus important to the process of curriculum development and implementation? What are some advantages and disadvantages of utilizing a consensus decision model? While these questions and the above definition of consensus should be utilized to focus your thinking, feel free to expand these parameters to include other definitions, examples, experiences, references and / or descriptions of consensus in your written response.
· Assume the role of a classroom teacher in a public or independent school in Tennessee. Pretend that you have recently returned from a national conference where you attended a presentation of an exciting and interesting educational innovation. Since returning from the conference, you have devoted considerable time to further research of the innovation. Assume you would like to include this innovation as a curricular experience in your classroom. Identify and describe the steps/procedures/process you would employ to ensure review, consideration, and approval for including this innovation in your classroom. Be sure to include building level and system level involvement if appropriate.
· Fenwick English stated in his book, Curriculum Management For Schools, Colleges, and Business, that curriculum has two essential functions:
· To establish a system that fully utilizes its resources, and
· To get maximum results in the form of student learning.
Definitions, descriptions, and statements of curriculum are found throughout the literature of curriculum study.
You have been asked by your principal to assist the school’s site-based management team as they strive to understand these two functions of curriculum. While reflecting on the two statements, expand your thoughts to include your graduate study in curriculum, assessment and your experience in the educational enterprise. Develop your ideas and write a commentary on what you will do and/or say to the site-based team to ensure they understand the functions of curriculum in the school.
· The school district in which you teach has recently been informed that test scores in several areas are below the state average. You and several of your teaching colleagues have been challenged by the school administration to improve test scores, although you have not been given specific steps to take. As a teacher seeking to improve students’ performance, identify and describe three (3) things you would do to improve students’ learning in your classroom.
· The focus of much of your study in the area of curriculum and instruction has been on the improvement of the curriculum of the schools. The Tennessee State Board / State Department of Education and regional accrediting agencies are requiring schools to develop a five-year improvement plan that focuses on student performance. Each school in Tennessee must file a plan with the State Department of Education by November of the next academic year. Accredited schools, as part of the self-study process, will submit a plan to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools on the next scheduled evaluation cycle. Therefore, all Tennessee schools must develop a five-year plan for school improvement that focuses on student performance.
Identify and describe what you consider to be the essential components, steps, processes, involvement’s, etc., that should be included and/or utilized in the development of a plan for school improvement.
· Explain some of the unique characteristics of the American society. How do you see these characteristics influencing the schools of America?
· Should the content of courses offered in a public school reflect the majority of opinion of the community served? Develop a rationale to support your answer.
· Identify and describe three curriculum changes that you think would be most helpful in improving the overall effectiveness of the curriculum in the public schools.
· There is considerable evidence that major forces in our culture, i.e., movies, TV, music, and current use of teen-age employees are counter-productive to learning and the historic role of students in our society. Please analyze the impact of these forces and describe what you can do to reinforce the role of student in our society.
· Discuss the impact of “accountability” on the curriculum in recent years. Discuss specifically the impact accountability has had on standards in education. Do you believe this impact has been positive or negative? Why?
· Throughout its history the educational system in the United States has been greatly influenced by external affairs. Describe at least three examples of this phenomenon and discuss each of their results on American education.
· Leaders in all fields including education should utilize the results of research when making important decisions.
(A) Demonstrate your knowledge of research by: defining and giving examples of the following: Primary source, secondary source, qualitative research, and quantitative research.
(B) Give the purpose and an example of the following types of research: Basic, Applied, Evaluation, and Action.
· Public education in America has been shaped by many individuals; however, in each century there have been one or two people who have played inordinately, significant roles in determining the direction public education would take in this country. Such individuals might be viewed as the giants in American education. For each of the three centuries (the eighteenth century, the nineteenth century, and the twentieth century), select one individual and discuss his/her impact on American education. Cite specific examples of the results of their efforts.