Curriculum Development Process
Curriculum development is an ongoing cycle. As research emerges, technology improves, and expectations for college and career-ready graduates evolve, district curriculum must continue to improve and change based on the needs of our learners. District curriculum must be analyzed and designed in a collaborative, systematic manner that not only produces a strong curriculum document, but allows for revision and reflection, support for teachers to implement curriculum with fidelity, and an opportunity to examine the effectiveness of the curriculum at the end of the cycle.
Based on the work and research of Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, a backwards design approach to curriculum development begins with identifying the desired results.
Units are designed to help students develop a deep understanding of the concepts that are taught. The focus is on understanding rather than simply covering curriculum. Deep understanding means that there is an expectation that students can generalize their learning to a real life situation or scenario. During the curriculum development process, the curriculum team will use the work of Wiggins and McTighe to drive their early planning:
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Identify desired results
Determine assessment evidence
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Incorporate learning experiences and instruction
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The curriculum development and review cycle is a four-part process that takes place over the course of several years.
The key components of the cycle include a period of review and research, curriculum development and design, implementation, and a monitoring period.
During this stage, the curriculum committee is formed to assess existing curriculum as well as instructional materials being used. The committee reviews research, examines student performance data, and revisits the scope and sequence of the standards.
The committee compares the current district programs to the programs used within other high achieving districts. When feasible and purposeful, site visits of alternative programs are taken by team members. An early plan to develop a budget for necessary resources and Board of Education approval for textbooks take place during this stage.
This process begins by establishing a shared ER9 vision for the curriculum. The vision reflects the mission statement and the shared values the districts believes in for its learners. After a vision is established, the districts include the ER9 Curriculum Steering Committee to set priorities tied to the vision and mission. Priorities in turn, inform action steps that map the research and review and revision process.
During research and review, a committee of teachers and leaders investigate program options that match the vision. The research stage might include piloting of different program options, resources and learning strategies which are brought back to the committee table for discussion.
At this stage, curriculum writing teams draft the scope and sequence of the curriculum through a new proposed resource or through district-created curriculum. As the team works on the sequence for the curriculum, they also define what students should know and be able to do as a result of the written curriculum by aligning scope and sequence to adopted state and national standards and associated mastery expectations. The committee selects instructional materials, strategies, pedagogy, and assessments to drive student learning. Most important, the writing team develops or identifies benchmarks that define program and student success. After the curriculum drafting or resource selection phase is completed, the curriculum writing or review team brings the proposed curriculum changes to the Board of Education curriculum committee for review and approval.
After the Board of Education adopts the curriculum, it is put into action. Teachers use the curriculum to guide instruction within their classrooms.
During implementation, staff are provided with training and professional development as necessary to refine learning strategies and assessment practices for teachers and students to succeed with the curriculum.
During the first years of curriculum implementation, it’s important to monitor how students are integrating knowledge based on the new resource or curriculum, and monitor how teachers are integrating new practices. This time allows opportunities to gather feedback on the curriculum that leads to further refinement. The evaluation process for the curriculum includes the examination of student performance outcomes.
During the monitoring stage, the committee continues to assess the effectiveness of the curriculum in action while providing necessary professional development to the staff.