Part+4


 * 18. James Popham "Curriculum Matters"**

Summary

The premise of this chapter deals with what information should we spend our limited time on in the classroom? It goes on to describe how curriculum and goals/objectives have shaped the way educators have taught.

-No clarity, no consequences The vagueness of the standards has left such a broad region for what can actually be taught. Simply stating that a class “needs to learn about national government” leaves too much wiggle room for instructional activities.

-No Child Left Behind For the first time, student assessment impacted what kind of sanctions or reputation school districts would receive. Because these assessments are given so much importance, educators began to teach to the tests in order to boost performance. This is causing lower quality education.

-Too Many targets There are now too many curriculum goals for educators to fit in. so they have been forced to create a list of what they hope students will learn. And because there are so many aims, we must guess what is actually covered in the standardized tests. The generalized score reports don’t provide sufficient feedback to help educators reflect on what instructional activities worked well from those that didn’t. These issues are contributing to why these tests need to be restructured.

-Three Options These are ways educators can cope with the curriculum crisis: Brand new content standards involves restructuring the content aims from scratch in order to have more instructionally beneficial aims. Coalesced content standards is the reworking of the current goals into smaller, reconceptionalized and measurable targets. Derivative assessment framework would keep the current standards intact but the assessment would focus on smaller curricular targets.

-Derek Boillat Believing Lens (King)

James Popham’s makes a good argument about how standards for education should be downsized for increased effectiveness in schools. American public schooling is now responsible to teach state wide curriculum to its students and so far the change has caused for some panic among schools. Teachers are overwhelmed by the amount of points in their designated area they have to teach in one school year. Students are being rushed through a curriculum that barely scrapes the surface of its subject matter. Popham is correct in his idea that the state curriculum needs to better fit the time spent between teacher and student. His proposed solution of modifying the NCLB standards instead of completely getting rid of NCLB would be better received by state officials that put their faith in standardized testing. This compromise on Popham’s part could possibly be a start in fixing the problems with NCLB. -Katie Reilly

Doubting Lens

The article, “Curriculum Matters” asserts that before the mandated high stakes testing established by NCLB, teachers often neglected state standards because they were said to be too general. It is my belief that teachers would have neglected the standards if they were too specific, as well as if they were too general. Teachers may not have realized that having general standards actually opens the door for creativity in the classroom. Standards that are too rigorous force the teachers hand when it comes to lesson planning and in a world where teachers are constantly fighting for autonomy creativity and individualism is crucial. Teachers that ignored generalized curriculum standards would probably love to have them back since the development of the NCLB law.

While the argument before NCLB claimed that standards were too general now the claim is that there are too many standards and therefore teachers fear they won’t be able to cover what is on the test. I highly doubt that critical thinking in the classroom stems from this sort of assertion. There are multiple ways to reach a standard without explicitly “teaching to the test”. I believe many teachers would be surprised how much their students can learn without making them regurgitate knowledge the teachers believe will be on the test. It would do the teachers good to develop a diverse curriculum that would implicitly address standards. The article also claims that having a multitude of standards is analogous with having a “wish list”. What happened to setting high expectations for our children? I don’t believe that having a wide range of standards is unrealistic, it just sets the bar higher and sends the message to our children that we believe they are capable of reaching each of these goals.

I find this article to contradict itself when it claims that one powerful curricula aim is more beneficial then multiple aims. The article says, “A powerful aim can be derived from a flock of specific skills” (116). If a flock of specific skills is needed to achieve a more powerful aim then what is wrong with aims such as using context clues to infer meaning, or identifying a main idea. These smaller aims will ultimately achieve purposeful reading. Developing aims such as “purposeful reading” may lose children in the complexity of the jargon.

-Kelsey Curlett


 * 19. J. Abner Peddiwell "The Sabor-Tooth Curriculum"**

Summary

This article presents a story in which a man, New-Fist, wanted to develop a system to teach the children of his tribe ways to obtain the main things which plague the adults: food, shelter, safety. He devised a system to teach them how to catch fish with their bare hands, club the horses, and scare the Saber-Tooths out of the caves with fire. This was New-Fist’s curriculum and the children learned quickly and had much success. Eventually, with the ice age changing, the past techniques did not adapt to new struggles. The water became muddy so they couldn’t catch fish, the horses were replaced by antelope which clubbing was futile against, and the Saber-Tooths were gone and replaced by giant bears that did not scare from fire. The tribe figured out new methods to deal with the novel problems. However, the conservatives said these new procedures had no place in the school. There was a debate between the radicals and the traditionalists which ended with, “we teach it for the purpose of giving that noble courage which carries over into all the affairs of life…” (pg. 122).

The author is illustrating through this story how education needs to update to fit the new issues that the future holds. There is no point teaching to the past because those techniques will not carry over to all problems.

-Derek Boillat

Believing Lens (King)

J. Abner Peddiwell’s article shines light on some of the more ridiculous traditions education is holding on to as society evolves with its knowledge. As readers read about this new fist and how the fictional education system will not conform to the new technology created to make life easier, I found myself thinking about calculators. I remember being so frustrated with math classes that wouldn’t let me use a calculator on tests. The resistance against having calculators in the math classroom is a lot like how the fictional school system in the article resisted against the nets being used to catch fish. Our education should be as up to date as possible with current technology and methods used in the fields of study. -Katie Reilly

Doubting Lens

I really tried hard to find something to doubt in this article but how can one dispute the fact that education is not timeless? Cultures change, cities grow and develop, historical events occur; life is not static in one entity, therefore, education and curriculum should not be static either. If curriculum didn’t ever change, I would still be learning how to knit or bake a pie.

-Kelsey Curlett


 * 20. Chester Finn Jr. "Fautly Engineering"**

Summary

This article begins with the paradox: if free citizens are to rule the state, does the state have a legitimate role in shaping their values and beliefs via its public schools, universities, and other institutions?

Standards and Civics Federal laws state that all states must have standards in reading, math and science but these decisions are being made by distant law makers rather than communities.

The aspirations of what the students are learning are simply not being met. For example, only a quarter of the students are reaching the proficient levels in the Educational Progress civic exam. They are not learning the basics of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in schools.

Outside the Classroom There is ample time for influence of family, neighbors, and media to promote learning civil society and what it takes to be a good citizen, however, the trend is that young people tend not vote and take little interest in current affairs.

The Pitfalls of Civics Education -Derek Boillat
 * 1) It is difficult to develop a civic curriculum due to diverse values across Americans.
 * 2) There is a hot debate whether schools should focus solely on the cognitive development of students or tap into their behavior and attitudes.
 * 3) School hours do not provide sufficient time for everything.
 * 4) Pedagogical values of educator often differ from those of parents.

Believing Lens (King)

Chester Finn Jr. discusses the purpose of education teaching students to be citizens and how complex the job has turned out to be in the current education systems. The problem is that the definition of a good citizen is relative to the society the student is growing up in during his or her education. Finn concludes that it may be impossible for schools to be expected to form students into good citizens unless schools are able to specialize in one viewpoint and parents can choose the school for their student. Parents should have the right to influence the values being taught to their students and schools of choice can give them that power. The students can be formed to the specifications of the parents and chosen teachers to the surrounding society’s definition of a good citizen. -Katie Reilly

Doubting Lens

It is almost insulting that the article “Faulty Engineering” claims that children cannot become good citizens with the help of today’s public education system. I graduated from a large public school, one where learning was often rote and diversity was rare yet I still learned how to be an engaged and active citizen. I love reading the newspaper, I think voting is imperative, and I also believe that volunteering and keeping up with local and world news is important in being a conscientious citizen. The article claims that entities outside of the education system are responsible for making children contributing members of society but that is most certainly not the entire truth. Even teachers in public school can incorporate a diverse curriculum that contains these basic elements of active citizenship. English classes can read the newspaper, math class can look at graphs of statistics and percents of important historical data, science class can develop earth science experiments that are based on a local community garden, and history class can not only uncover the history of our nation but it can take a closer look at the history of the community/city/town where the school is actually located. I think this article has vastly underestimated the power of public schools and it should be realized that schools should not be written off as inadequate suppliers of lifelong citizenship skills.

-Kelsey Curlett


 * 21. William Glasser "The Quality School Curriculum"**

Summary

Wouldn’t this be nice… The premise of this curriculum is to do away with all the throw away knowledge or the purely fact driven questions that often plague learning. Instead of having to memorize a sheet of facts in order to reproduce it for a test and then forget that material shortly after, the students would be pushed to look for the “how”.

On tests, instead of multiple choice or true/false, the students would be asked to decide and describe their thoughts about a particular topic. Writing would always be the focus looking for explanation fo decisions.

Overall, all the information that is learned would be circled back to the real world application of the information. For example when looking at cells, the class would compare regular and cancerous cells and learn how to avoid high exposure from causes.

-Derek Boillat

Believing Lens (King) How many times, as education majors, have we heard that having our students memorize facts is not teaching them knowledge? This idea of knowledge being a collection of skills taught to the student is what William Glasser writes about in his article. Students shouldn’t be penalized in the classroom for their short-memory recollection but rather should be responsible in being able to use the knowledge given in the classroom. Looking at a chemistry example, if a student can write on a test the different element names and symbols but does not know the uses of the elements then does he or she have knowledge of the elements? What is the use of knowing the name of the element if you cannot use this knowledge in everyday life? A quality school curriculum challenges itself to be useful to every student that is forced to endure its lessons. Students shouldn't leave the classroom thinking that the last fifty minutes of their life was wasted on some random facts the teacher wants them to memorize for Friday's multiple choice final. The curriculum should be teaching students skills that will enhance their knowledge of the world. This type of thinking creates more work for teacher as they have to find meaning in what they do in the classroom. -Katie Reilly

Doubting Lens The article “Quality School Curriculum” makes some interesting, and not altogether true, assertions about quality curriculum. The article states that quality curriculum should incorporate word processing programs and lessons. This aspect of a quality curriculum would be missing from most urban schools that are vastly underfunded. Teachers should be held accountable to develop curriculum that is relevant and accessible to every student, including students that don’t have access to technology at home. The article also asserts that schools that lack technology can raise the funds to purchase more computers. I question where the time, resources, and energy would come from to raise such a large sum of money especially in an urban school where day-to-day basic functions can be a struggle. I also disagreed with the article when it claimed that quality curriculum should focus more on writing then reading. Again, there are so many urban schools where the children are reading far below his or her grade level. If a student cannot read at his or her grade level the chances are their writing will be poor as well. Cutting back on reading in the curriculum will inevitably teach students that it reading is not important or necessary. Students can learn a wider range of knowledge and develop a larger vocabulary if they read more often. -Kelsey Curlett What happened?
 * What Happened (1) **

In my CT’s classroom curriculum doesn’t seem to be a huge priority. The standards developed by the corporate arm of the schools are rarely seen on any lesson plans or anywhere else. There are times where the students will be instructed to do whole activities that appear to have little to no relationship to any curriculum at all. This may make some uncomfortable.

Why did it happen?

My CT has a philosophy that if you simply teach, you are sure to hit most of the standards within the curriculum. It is a very different approach than what I am used to coming from the College of Ed. From time to time he will login to his corporate account and browse through the Science and ELA standards to ensure that he is at least on track for meeting the standards.

What does it mean?

This means that students are not in a standards-focused classroom. This may seem like a dangerous thing, especially in the present climate of education within the nation. Cross Creek however is one of the highest scoring schools on state standardized tests each year. Perhaps if more were to follow the philosophy of less focus on standards and more focus on teacher developed curriculum there would be better education across the board?

What are the implications?

My CT is taking a daring approach to teaching in the classroom. By not putting standards front and center he is challenging the dominant ideology that tells us that by focusing on standards when developing curriculum we stay focused and improve student learning. I am curious to see the success rate of teachers who focus very little on standards and simply focus on teaching the skills they believe their students need to succeed. It would be nice to see some research on this in the future.

-Aaron Noordhoek

**What Happened (2)**

What happened? There is a student in my third hour class, Melissa, who likes to challenge her teachers' authority. When nudged or flat out asked to do her class work, she says things like, "But I don't //want// to!" whines, and gets off topic a lot. She talks to everyone around her and has to be separated from others so that both they and she can get to work. She also seems to feel that she has some sort of clearance that makes it okay to know things that students don't really need to know (for example, she constantly asks what my first name is, but I won't answer because I feel that she would call me by my first name if she knew it, which would be disrespectful and inappropriate). It is a huge struggle to get Melissa to come to class prepared, and she constantly asks to leave to get her books or use the restroom, which takes away from her learning time.

Why did it happen? Melissa has been clinically diagnosed with a form of Bipolar disorder. Her mother has emailed the school and all of Melissa's teachers to let them know that her medicine is probably to blame for her behavior problems. My CT feels that Melissa's medical problems are a legitimate reason to let Melissa get away with things other students normally would be punished for and that we cannot expect her to meet the same expectations as other students, which essentially translates into having no expectations of Melissa.

What does it mean? Melissa is clearly taking advantage of her situation. Although it is possible that she is experiencing side effects from her medicine or symptoms of her Bipolar disorder, I feel that she has gotten away with so much for so long that she feels invincible, and my CT's habit of ignoring her misbehavior is proving that idea. By not doing anything about her behavior, we as her teachers are enabling this behavior, not helping her by being lenient.

What are the implications? The fact that Melissa feels that she can get away with things that others can't shows that her teachers need to stop ignoring the negative things that she does in order to teach her that her behavior is not acceptable. Because she does have a real medical condition, some leniency can still be used, but not to the extent that it is now. If Melissa continues to show this sort of behavior in her adult life, people like her boss, the police, or even landlords will not accept her medical problems as an excuse, and as her teachers, we need to start teaching her how to act in society. She needs to be given more responsibility and higher expectations to ensure that she can succeed later in life.

- Kristy McPherson

** What Happened (3) **

** What Happened?: ** In my class I am teaching children permanently expelled from their high school’s. These expulsions have occurred for multiple reasons, but most of my students are in my school because they got released from juvie and we are the school that will take them. In a school like this classrooms are often rowdy and difficult to wrangle. The books on the list for me to teach my second hour students (some who have not yet taken any English classes) are: //The Illiad, Canterbury Tales,// and //Beowulf//. These are the books that we have to teach these students and there is minor room to wander from these large texts.

** Why did it happen?: ** These books are standard and have always been taught. Further, these books are top picks because we have nearly enough copies. These books are also now free domain and can be run off as copies to students devoid of book copies. Student interest and drive to learn texts was not taken into account when choosing literature pieces. ** What does it mean?: ** This means that my students are not typically engaged in their reading choices, and choice books are rarely heard of. Also, this means that my students are turned off to reading and typically begin to dislike English. It is especially the students who could be reached by new young adult literature that are left by the wayside to wallow in the blood spilled on the fields of the Illiad; this blood that they cannot even make out through the tongue twisting names and foreign terms.

** What are the implications for further practice?: ** As I am planning for the //Canterbury Tales,// I sought out a translated copy in modern English and reading will be complemented with a multitude of other resources. For Beowulf I bought two graphic novels to teach the story with. Being mandated into such a strict curriculum for a TRIMESTER means, however, that these students miss out on the outside reading pieces that could complement these texts because we just do not have the time.

-ashley gwinn

**What Happened (4)** //What happened?// At the beginning of the year my CT “started” a prejudice unit/overarching theme for the class. I believe this was chosen because the literature textbooks for the 8th grade class have an emphasis on the topic. The first discussion began with defining the term prejudice; and, this was troubling to watch as observer. She would pose the question to the students, and a few brave souls would shout out opinions, and then my CT would tell them to write her answer down in their notes. This so-called discussion and brainstorming about the definition of prejudice lasted for less than two minutes.

Then, my CT asked the students ‘What are some forms of prejudices in our school?’ Being first hour and that most of the kids may have been scared to talk; a silence fell over the room. This silence prompted her to ‘lead’ the kids to different stereotypical social groups within the school. For example, she would say, in a mocking and immature tone, “//What do we call those kids who wear black and are always sad?”// //“What do we call the kids who have instruments and are kind of geeky?” “What do we call those kids who have Under Armor, Nike and Hollister clothes?”// The list of questions continued; and, the gap after the question was filled with student laughter, unnecessary comments and shouting shallow answers. For example, students would shout “Goths,” and then laugh and chit-chat with their neighbors about how they hate ‘those’ kids. //Why did it happen?// I believe the incident happened because my CT fears student participation. She seems to dislike when there are multiple voices being expressed and she tries to eliminate these situations. Also, I think she feels as though her ideas are superior and correct; which limits students’ ability to come up with great ideas on their own. As far as her lack of development on the idea of prejudice, I believe she just planned poorly. In her mind it may have been obvious why they were listing off stereotypes and she could remember these examples while reading the novel; however, students had no idea how the term—a fairly significant concept—was connected to their lives or the book. The conversations were superficial because she had not reflected or thought of how to make them more meaningful and valuable to students.//What does it mean?// I learned that it is critical to evaluate the steps and methods being used to teach an idea. I believe class discussion is an extremely effective way to brainstorm ideas and hear various opinions; yet, it is important to consider the material and my objective. //Does the teaching strategy inspire kids to express their own ideas? Or, does the strategy limit their understanding and creativity by taking away their voice?// My CT should have been more conscious of her approach—especially since now the students think labeling other students is not only okay, but humorous. They see it as entertainment and condonable because, after all, my CT asked them to list stereotypes and laughed, too. Thus, it is imperative for concepts and their education purpose to be fully explained. My CT had good intentions and would have made some amazing points if she talked about, or had students talk about, the disadvantages and consequences of stereotyping, as well as, prejudice’s role in society.

--K.McCollum

__**The website keeps directing me to this page when I click on Oct. 18...True for anyone else? YES!**__

**22. Goodlad, J.** Summary **“We honor ambition, we reward greed, we celebrate materialism, we worship acquisitiveness, we cherish success, and we commercialize the classroom—and then we bark at the young about the gentle art of the spirit” (135).** John Goodland, president of the Institute for Educational Inquiry, claims that we do not teach our students what we want them to learn. He argues that test scores impede civic understanding and democratic citizenship. Test scores are the puppet strings that dictate the actions of our education system. The beautiful diversity of humankind is ignored in such a system. The system is ultimately broken. Low-income children are left out in the dispersion of educational resources. They don’t receive scholarships, funding for head start programs or have the privilege of permanent or long-term teachers. In order to fix the broken system that is education, we must passionately inject morality into education. Schooling must address all of the moral issues that the larger community does not.

-Kelsey Curlett

Doubting Lens

John Goodlad’s article talks about how schools are obligated to teach social justice and equality to students. Educating the students is the way to invoke social change. This is optimistic thinking coming from Goodlad. It is true that schools have a great influence on students’ behavior but the schools are only part of the environment the students pick up the importance of social justice and equality. The student’s society is a better gauge on how the student views social justice and equality. If the student’s outside of the classroom environment contradicts the teaching environment, the student might think of the equality lessons to be specific for school but not to be carried over in home life. -Katie Reilly

Implications

As a principal, I think one of my major roles would be addressing these ‘big idea’ issues. I think it would be important to educate my staff, as well as the community, about the harmful effects of creating a social caste system which people judge students and children. For my staff, I would implement workshops which discuss the role of the child’s environment in learning. This workshop would include a general overview of the social caste system displayed nationwide and then a localized and personalized view of our school community. By talking about national and local moral ecology and the role of schools, I hope my teachers would be able to have a firm understanding of these factors affect all students. Furthermore, if I were a principal in an impoverished community, I would discuss ways to combat issues which lead to unfair advantages for students, i.e.; frequent substitutes, family income, limited school resources, etc.

In addition, I would create a ‘team’ of teachers who would be responsible for updating staff on pertinent information about students. The team would allow teachers to tackle easy and solvable problems in order to give students an equal chance at covering the same material as other students. For example, one of the team teachers could discover a student is unable to make it to first hour everyday because their guardian sleeps in causing them to be late. The special team could make Teachers aware of this problem and develop solutions for helping the student keep up with information and class work. A solution could be pairing the student with an exceptional student who would be willing to let them borrow class notes, look at their planner and pick up an extra worksheet for them. Also, teachers who stay late to finish up work could volunteer their room for the student in case they have questions about the assignment or need to utilize school supplies. These ideas are a few ways teachers can work to lessen the impact of the environment affects on the students’ academics.

As for the community, I think it would be important to provide information about social casting and how it can be prevented. It would also be beneficial to address issues the community faces—as far as home environments affecting student performance—and give suggestions to fix or eliminate these obstacles.

--K. McCollum

**23. Nord, W.** Summary **“Because religion plays significant roles in history and society, study about religion is essential to understanding both the nation and world. Omission of facts about religion can give students the false impression that the religious life of humankind is insignificant or unimportant”(138).** In the article, “The Relevance of Religion to the Curriculum,” Warren A. Nord makes the claim that teaching religion in schools is in fact, no longer controversial. Although no longer controversial, Nord says that a heated debate remains not if religion should be taught but where in the curriculum it belongs. By ignoring religion in the curriculum, the education system is ignoring a profound way of making sense of the world. When religion is taught in schools it is often placed in history curriculum that only mentions facts and foregoes any methods of critical thinking. Nord argues that students need to be introduced to more complex religious concepts because students are completely unaware that religious conflicts or tensions even exist. Instruction including religion should begin in elementary school including basic information and facts but older students should be required to take a minimum of a year-long course in religion, along with the choice of religion electives. Nord believes that many aspects of life cannot be understood without an understanding of religion. Scriptural texts address many issues such as morality, poverty, wealth, work, stewardship, economics and more. By including religion into more aspects of the curriculum we would be preparing students to function as democratic citizens. Nord continues to argue that ignoring religion in the curriculum is illiberal, politically unjust, and unconstitutional. • Students without knowledge of religion are close- minded• Religious parents are educationally disenfranchised.• Not teaching religion favors non-religion over religion. Schools that do not teach religion are not hostile towards it, they simply choose to ignore it. In order to be fair, schools must require the study of religion if they require the study of disciplines that cumulatively lead to secular ways of thinking. -Kelsey Curlett

Doubting Lens

The relevance of religion to the curriculum” wants public school curriculum to have religion as one of its components. With a student population diversified in religion, which religious impacts do teachers put in their classrooms? Time constraints do not allow for teachers to explore every religious impact on every topic covered in their classroom so the teacher will have to be selective in the content the class covers during the year. This selection will vary in its bias though lean heavily towards the teacher’s view of the world and in the end backs teachers in corners concerning beliefs. For example, if a student raises his or her hand stating an opinion on another student’s religious facts how does the student whose beliefs are in question feel in the classroom? Another type of problem that happens in schools with little diversity in education is how many religious views are considered fair in the classroom? If a school system is over ninety percent Christians, does the teacher go over other religious views on the topic? Most would say it is important for the students to learn about different religions for tolerance purposes but the truth is that students with a solid religious belief system at home look at the world differently then students who do not have a solid religious background.

 A different issue Warren Nord mentions in his article is how not putting religious beliefs in the public schools is unconstitutional. Untied States prides itself on having a separation of church and state and if public schools allow religion within its walls then the schools lose their neutrality between religious people with different beliefs. Nord believes that neutrality is lost when religion is not mentioned in schools but mentioning some of the religions while excluding others tip the scale from neutrality. -Katie Reilly

Implications

As a principal, I think there is value in establishing a religious studies course. I believe students will learn a great deal from having exposure to world religions and how they have impacted various other courses, i.e., Science, History, English, etc. I think that in order to produce empathetic and open-minded students, it would be extremely beneficial for students to learn about such controversial topics by an educational institution. This would eliminate negative opinions, falsifications and biases based on people placing superiority on certain religions.

However, I think the key to the success of the program lies within the instructor. It is imperative, as a principal, to pick someone who is able to teach the sensitive subject in a way that is inoffensive to students, but also challenges their current perceptions. I would have to know and trust that the teacher is able to handle difficult questions, confrontational students and parents and still is inspired to inform students about how religion is a major component of human life.

Lastly, I think the course should cover numerous religions—in order for students to grasp various cultural differences—and highlight their commonalities as well as their differences. Students should know going into the class that the course will be taught like any other subject; the information will be objective, factual and open to student interpretation. Students may participate and share their views, but the purpose of the class is not to convert others or ‘put down’ other religions. The course would be a way to educate students about important human traits other than intelligence, such as, morals and ethics which are the foundations of most religions. --K.McCollum

**24. Hirsch, E.D.** Summary In the article, “The Core Knowledge Curriculum- What’s Behind Its Success,” author E.D. Hirsch, Jr. compares learning to budding leaves on a tree. The old leaves actively help nourish the new leaves, therefore the more old leaves we have, the faster we can develop new leaves. In other words, knowledge builds upon knowledge in an organic process and this is what the Core Knowledge Curriculum is capable of doing. Core Knowledge Curriculum can:• Decrease cumulative learning deficits• Increase school morale• Increase collaboration• Culminate grade-by-grade shared knowledge Hirsch claims that when a Core Knowledge Curriculum is implemented disciplinary problems will go down, student and teacher attendance will go up, critical thinking will be enhanced, and standardized test scores will go up. -Kelsey Curlett

Doubting Lens

Core Knowledge Curriculum has the same problems of the current regulated standards. The author of this article argues the Core Knowledge will help bridge the gap between well funded schools and lower income schools. For this solution to work means all teachers are going to cover everything the Core Knowledge requires for the students but the standards are only half the problem. The other is how much of the classroom is given to the teacher. The article mentioned how this curriculum allows for fifty percent of classroom time to be delegated by the teacher. This allows varies content in classrooms across the country. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">-Katie Reilly

Implications

As a principal, I think there are many impressive facts and astonishing evidence supporting why schools should adopt Core Curriculum. The results seem fantastic; and who could argue with student improvement and bridging achievement gaps? However, I would want to adopt the curriculum only if teachers were creating the standards. I think it is important for teachers—those who have studied how to educate children—to determine what things are necessary at which age to continue productive learning. I would be opposed to accepting the curriculum if I knew it was being constructed by large corporations, politicians or other institutions/people who know nothing about educating the youth.

Furthermore, I think it would be advantageous to talk with my staff before adopting the curriculum. Some teachers may be resistant or unwilling to learn about core curriculum because they feel pressured to teach to more standards or feel limited as a creative individual. I would want them to be informed about the previous positive results of the program, as well as the pitfalls. By knowing the pitfalls, the staff may have suggestions to avoid falling in to similar ‘sticky’ situations and improve the system. Additionally, I would let my staff know the core curriculum makes their job easier and more fun; they have a guide letting them know what they need to cover and they can teach them using their own style and ingenuity.

--K.McCollum

**25. Noddings, N.** Summary Why Teach Caring? In an education world that is dominated by standardized tests and high achievement gaps, a caring curriculum is often put on the back burner. Although often overlooked, this type of curriculum is deemed as essential by Ned Noddings, a lead figure in educational philosophy. We cannot even being to improve test scores or lower the achievement gap until we begin to show our children that we really care about them. A caring curriculum is crucial because it has the ability to:• Expand our children’s cultural literacy• Connect the standard subjects• Connect our students and our subjects to existential questions• Connect us person-to-person Choosing and Organizing Themes of Care Themes of caring can be implemented on both the structural and individual level. On the structural level, caring educational communities can be organized in ways that foster support and trusting relationships. Small schools can create more caring environments then larger schools can. Keeping teachers and students together for a longer period of time is also another way to implement caring. On the individual level, parents and teachers can be involved in their children’s or student’s activities and they can share their own dreams and doubts. Teachers spend so much time with their students that they should be prepared to respond to all the needs of the student, maybe even more so then school counselors. Children will inevitably feel cared for if they have an adult in their life that consistently shows compassion. Even curriculum can be caring if it involves studying global others, war, tolerance, poverty, love, and more. Interdisciplinary approaches to caring involve cross-curricular study but are often difficult to implement especially in the older grades. Overall, according to Noddings, caring for students is fundamental to teaching. -Kelsey Curlett

Doubting Lens

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Nel Noddings has a noble cause of trying to have education teach students how to care about people and objects in the world but he has overestimated the time teachers have with their students. Most teachers are always behind right now without adding more material to the current curriculum.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> The article also is insensitive the diversity in the classroom. It is impossible to expect teachers to instruct twenty-five to thirty unique students on their own personal belief system regarding care. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">-Katie Reilly

Implications

In theory, Noddings idea sounds like it could have the potential to improve students’ empathy; however, as a principal I would never implement these ideas into the classroom. Noddings suggestions seem too routed in religion and seem as though much of the class time would be dedicated to incorporating ‘caring’ as opposed to learning about the topic. If my staff were to utilize this program and add Noddings examples of adding ‘caring’ to lessons I think parents would be extremely upset. The topics he suggests are incredibly controversial and very easy for students to twist or misremember the ‘key points’ of the lesson. In addition, I would have displeased teachers who might be aggravated that they have to incorporate yet another thing into their already packed lesson plans. The intentions of the program are good; I just don’t think they are realistic.

Nevertheless, I do believe it is important for students to learn about significant traits of character, such as, caring, loyalty, trustworthiness, and utilize critical thinking skills to assess their use of these qualities. I would much rather adopt the religious studies class which teaches the value humankind has placed on caring in different respects, as well as other social traits which are essential to someone’s character. Another way to fuse caring into lessons would be to mandate that teachers allocate a few days every semester to stress the importance of a certain moral or emotional intelligence aspects, such as caring, open-mindedness or honesty. This method allows for students to learn about other important characteristics of human behavior; but does not burden teachers with the extra work and headache of having to adjust all lessons to fit in the topic of caring. Plus, students may take the ‘moral’ days more seriously because the content area topic can/will be closely related to the moral characteristic and provide a deeper meaning.

--K.McCollum **What Happened? (2)**

What happened?

My third hour class is called LANGUAGE! and is a lower level Language Arts class for sixth graders. Because “lower level” can range anywhere from reading at a 5th grade level to a 1st grade level, there is a large learning gap in this classroom. Some students seem to do just fine by themselves, finishing tests quickly and accurately, while others struggle to even read the words on a page. This makes creating lessons that ca help all of them succeed very difficult, as I have to accommodate everyone in the class, not just the ones who are ahead or the ones who are behind.

Why did it happen?

My school is in Allegan, a community not known for having a high median income or high funding for schools. Because money coming into the school is limited, there just aren’t the resources to help students who are considered to be behind their grade level academically. A few students in my class qualify for Special Education help, and they get it, but for the others, there’s really nothing we can do. The class may only have fifteen students in it, but its impossible to give them all the individual attention they need to succeed without neglecting the rest of the class.

What does it mean?

The LANGUAGE! class idea is a good one, but it’s completely flawed in execution. My CT and I are not equipped to teach individual students how to read in 18 weeks while also working with all of the other students on completely different assignments. Each of the students in the class really needs to have their own curriculum to focus on getting them more up to speed in Language Arts, but there just aren’t enough resources or teachers in the classroom to actually make individualization work. I feel that in order for the students in the LANGUAGE! class to succeed, they each need a one-on-one tutor to work with them on the specific things they need help with.

What are the implications?

When devising a lower level Language Arts program, developers must provide students with all of the resources they need to catch up to their grade level, whether that be a tutor or an individualized lesson plan. Placing students of vastly different abilities in one classroom and expecting them to all be able to cope is a bit ridiculous and only furthers the learning gap.

- Kristy McPherson