Evaluation of a New Curriculum Initiative - Essay Example

Evaluation of a New Curriculum Initiative ABSTRACT The No Child Left Behind Act has been a dismal failure. This paper discusses the reasons behind such a curricular initiative disaster which has spiraled into a nationwide problem. A. Introduction: (Brief introduction of initiative, your school, District and community). Be sure to introduce your school and give a brief overview of its population (e.g., demographics, ethnic make-up, etc.). It should only take 2 or 3 sentences at most. 
[50 words] The school, district, and community which I have chosen for my case study are all impoverished areas. The main demographic of the population that lives within this area are urban-dwelling African-American children who are an underserved and at-risk population threatened with violence on a daily basis—which is the norm. B. Description of Initiative: Be sure to clearly identify each heading’s attribute in that section and briefly define it if necessary (e.g., Behaviorism is the psychological foundation behind X, because…) Finally, be sure to connect each section to your initiative and include classroom practice whenever possible.
 1. Philosophical and Psychological Foundations of the Initiative [478] By year 2014, 100% of children in the schools must be meeting standards, or be proficient.  According to Ornstein and Hunkins (2008), the philosophical and psychological foundations of this initiative have to do with the fact that those in power know there needs to be education reform, but they don’t know what to do (pp. 56). There is a website summarizing the history of No Child Left Behind. It has already been a dismal failure in terms of trying to raise scores, but that is mainly not the issue.  The main issues I take task with, going into the profession of teaching are: a) having a goal of reaching 100% perfection with everyone meeting standards (just not realistic in my view), even by 2014, and b) teaching to the test, as that does not necessarily show that students have deep understanding of a concept; it only shows you that they can pass a test, if that makes sense.  Assessment class teaches that we have learned that you can assess students in many ways.  But giving students tests, especially high-stakes testing, is limited in that it can only assess certain types of knowledge.  For example, you can't test students' reasoning skills very far with giving them multiple choice items on a standardized test other than to know that they gave you the right answer. That doesn't help you very much.  But with a performance assessment of some type, such as an essay question or other assessment where students must create a product or a report of some type (where instructors don't have to "teach to the test"), a lot can be gained about what we call a student's "deep understanding" of the material.  So that is one reason why I think No Child Left Behind is a bad policy; it focuses on high-stakes testing and has left children behind when they really need it, in my opinion.  Unfortunately, standardized test scores are what drive AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) and keep schools open.  AYP is reached depending on test scores' improvement from last year, from what I understand.  If schools are not making AYP they can be put on Academic Watch Status (AWS), or Academic Early Watch Status (AEWS).  If these schools do not make AYP for a certain number of years, the schools can be restructured or even closed depending upon the number of years your school has or has not made AYP.  So testing is important in this regard.  Currently, the school which is being studied for this curriculum case study, made AYP this past school year but is on Academic Watch Status, for example, so they have to be careful.  Apparently, they have missed making AYP in one of their past years and have to make sure they make it in the future.  2. Socioeconomic and/or Political Factors [405]
 Education reform (which turned into NCLB) was a campaign point for Governor Bush in 2000. This law mandates 100% achievement; mainstreaming and other failures would bring the average down. The bill was a failure before it started; 100% achievement doesn't make sense. According to Ornstein and Hunkins (2008), socioeconomic status is a deciding factor in who is benefiting from NCLB and who is not (pp. 160). Anyone can see that the schools need reforming. But if the kids aren’t motivated, aren’t excited about learning, any program will fail. In ten minutes they will be looking out the window.  It is argued that if Mr. Kennedy wrote such a flawed bill, why is blame assigned to Mr. Bush? Why not simply fix the bill, rather than waiting to use it in the election. I contend that anyone involved in this education legislation has been playing politics with kids' heads. And shame on them. My information is that testing, teaching is left to the states. That method is not set by the fed and cash was promised (though never appropriated -- what has Ms. Pelosi been doing for two years?) to allow the to move from school to school. And I put great stock in moving out of the bad schools, because the educational field is full of chuckleheads, as I am sure you have discovered. Why aren't bad teachers fired outright? Keeping bad teachers, shuffling them between reconstituted schools makes no sense. But, if the child is interested and has parents to scoot them into doing the work, and they come into class ready to rock n roll, they will master the material. If the parents aren’t there, if the teacher can't get them engaged, I don't care how much you spend. Education begins at home, which is why one should give the books to kids—if they are readers forever, they will keep that particular characteristic for life.    According to Zemelman (1998), Marianne Flanagan, who teaches in the Chicago Public Schools on the South Side of Chicago, with 32 African American and Hispanic students, teaches reading by leading them through stories (pp. 25). Leading the students through a short story activity is favorable to this teacher because it reinforces the culture of orality from which these students have sprung forth, thus teaching them in a manner that is consistent with ways in which they are used to learn, which is primarily (but not entirely) orally. 3. Curriculum Design Model [31] I would like to keep curriculum easy to navigate, both for the teacher and the student. According to he curriculum design model should be kept as simple as possible (pp. 181). 4. Curriculum Development Approach (Chapter 7, p. 194) 
[753] Curriculum should follow a philosophy of diversity. Celebrating diversity, according to Ornstein and Hunkins (2008), is very important (pp. 194). My philosophy of diversity encapsulates three key concepts which will serve to make my classroom a welcoming environment for all students to learn and to express themselves accordingly. These concepts which will make my classroom a successful learning environment for diverse learners are the following: promoting inclusivity; celebrating diversity; and, as the teacher, using caretaker language to make students feel comfortable. It is a keystone of my philosophy of diversity that the classroom be a place of inclusiveness—whether my students be Black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, or of mixed race(s) or races not named here, and be of whatever socioeconomic status, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or cultural affiliation—that my students feel that they are equals in my classroom regardless of my particular cultural lens. An inclusive philosophy dictates that each student should have the same opportunity to learn the target subject. This includes being cognizant of striving against favoritism, especially based on gender or race. Students who are from lower levels socioeconomically should be given a fair chance to succeed by providing them with the tools they need to succeed in an environment which has typically favored the dominant culture’s hegemonic social strata. A level playing field is key. Stategies include having class materials available such as extra paper and pens. I want students of various national origins and religions to feel comfortable enough to express themselves within the dynamic of their own backgrounds. Especially with students who have ESL/ELL/bilinugal/multilingual backgrounds, I want to make sure that my class is accessible to their language capabilities by supporting their learning with extra attention in order to check for understanding so that they don’t fall behind. Additionally, I would like to extend my help to students of different genders and sexual orientations who may suffer discrimination from other students—and try to combat that discrimination within my classroom by having an open-door policy. I wish to facilitate a learning environment in the classroom that fosters learning to all students, regardless of what groups to which they belong. Part of this inclusivity can be achieved with the celebration of diverse learners’ backgrounds. Allowing students to use their own method and style of speaking, dialects, and rhetorical devices when expressing themselves in the target language should be key when teaching the core subject—although an effort will be made to show students a variety of dialectical, methodical, stylistic, and rhetorical devices used in the core subject, providing a contrast to their own. This is not to diminish students’ own experiences; rather, it is to provide students from diverse populations the opportunity to be introduced to the core subject in its many forms and reinforce the beauty of their own cultural, religious, and especially linguistic, traditions. Celebrating students’ diversity includes the necessity of allowing for various questions and responses according to students’ cultural lenses, viewpoints, and global worldviews. As a teacher, I cannot make generalizations about students. Rather, I must be aware, or become aware of, the unique differences and similarities in my students’ backgrounds and then make my students feel welcome—regardless of that background—in order to make them feel that they are in a learning environment which is as safe and nonjudgmental as humanly possible, in order to promote the curriculum in a fun and engaging style accounting for those differences and similarities. Additionally, I will accentuate the importance that students must learn to appreciate each others’ differences and similarities and be sensitive, polite, and respectful individuals who are model citizens both inside and outside my classroom—which will help foster learning across disciplines. Thirdly, I plan to utilize caretaker language in order to help students of whatever background feel at ease in my classroom to be part of the learning process—which includes students from all levels. In lieu of the parent(s), the teacher takes on a role of authority responsible for students’ affective filters. How much learning they absorb depends upon the care with which they are spoken to in the classroom. I plan to use caretaker language so students feel like members of a classroom community and mini-culture of its own. Students navigating the classroom culture will achieve mastery. It is important to make everyone feel included at the levels I will be teaching at. Considering this is a poorer community, it makes sense. My philosophy of diversity includes: inclusivity, celebrating diversity, and using caretaker language. 5. Aims, Goals, Objectives of the Curriculum Development [34] The main objectives of curriculum development are to enhance student learning and guide instruction. Of course, this can only come in conjunction with careful planning, as stated by Ornstein and Hunkins (2008, pp. 224). 6. Implementation Strategy [23] Implementation is key. Whatever one plans is no good without implementation, or the demonstration of the lesson (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2008, pp. 265). 7. Evaluation Criteria and Issues [33] Evaluation criteria should be in conjunction with rubrics. Assessments, both formal and informal, as well as performance and alternative authentic assessments (such as portfolios) should be encouraged (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2008, pp. 302).
 8. Conclusion (Your perceptions of how the initiative is working…or not working at your school sit and why) 

[15] The initiative is obviously not working, because there will not be “100% achievement” by 2014. REFERENCES Flaws in no child left behind act on display in Massachusetts (2011). Available: . Ornstein, A.C. & Hunkins, F.P. (2008). Curriculum foundations, principles, and issues: fifth edition. US: Pearson. Zemelman, S. (1998). Best practices. New Hampshire: Heinemann. Read More