Curriculum Planning and Development for the Success of All Learners

Through my studies and professional work I have shown curriculum planning and development competency by:

1. demonstrating the ability to enhance teaching and learning through curriculum assessment and strategic planning for all learners, including early childhood, elementary, middle and junior high school, high school, special education, gifted and talented, and adult levels;
2. demonstrating the ability to provide planning and methods to anticipate trends and educational implications;
3. demonstrating the ability to develop, implement, and monitor procedures to align, sequence, and articulate curriculum and validate curricular procedures;
4. demonstrating the ability to identify instructional objectives and use valid and reliable performance indicators and evaluative procedures to measure performance outcomes;
5. appropriately using learning technologies;
6. demonstrating an understanding of alternative instructional designs, curriculum, behavior management, and assessment accommodations and modifications; and
7. demonstrating an understanding of the urgency of global competitiveness;

Reflection:

Throughout my teaching experience, I had what I thought was a really good understanding of curriculum and assessment especially when applying it to the courses I currently teach. Then, I studied the considerations from Lalor's Ensuring High-Quality Curriculum for ED 644, and I realized while I thought my curriculum was good, I wasn't done; it's a living document. Curriculum must dynamic and flexible, continually revisited to find improvements in order to reach all learners where they are at.

After applying the considerations to my own curriculum, I found different ways I can adapt my material and assessment to better serve my students. For example, the organizing center of the unit, the introductory problem, I reviewed was supposed to be a relatable real-world situation that seventh grade students should be engaged with. However, that approach was not effective, so I needed to change the situation given to make the problem and then the essential questions I was looking for the students to answer during the lesson more relatable.

In addition to studying the curriculum I already have in place, I also learned I should be considering the null curriculum or the material that I have left out of the curriculum whether implicitly or explicitly. Even if administrators are responsible for the overarching curriculum decisions, teachers must be involved in the process and given a say in what should be in the curriculum, what are the methods for instruction, and how will it be assessed. I learned this collaborative effort requires time set aside during the school day, during PLCs, or during PD days, and it allows for teachers who have the same classes talk about effective practices and determine what are the important curriculum decisions that need to be made to best serve the students.