Write a 2 200 word replies to discussions.
The first one is.
drienne Unertl, Jill Outka-Hill, Roland Robinson, and Carla Hester-Cro research in Preparing Teachers to Engage Rural Students in Computational Thinking Through Robotics, Game Design, and Culturally Responsive Teaching, the researchers define core curriculum is a “set of educational goals, explicitly taught (and not taught), focused on making sure that all students involved learning certain material tied to a specific age or grade level” (Leonard, Mitchell, Barnes-Johnson, Unertl, Outka-Hill, Robinson, Hester-Cro, 2018, p. 388). This definition of core curriculum coincides with my working understanding of the term curriculum taken from Gordon, Taylor, and Oliva’s (2019) book, Developing the Curriculum: Improved Outcomes Through Systems Approaches. Curriculum, in part, is a set – not necessarily sequential, that includes everything that goes on academic, social, and otherwise, inside and outside of classes (Gordon, Taylor, Olivia, 2019, p. 3). Moreover, the educational system in the United States is not standardized. Nationally, each state differs with the use of core curriculum, books, technology, and instructional practices – even the states’ assessments differ. The differences in core curriculum across the nation are primarily because of the funding, accessibility, and autonomy of the school system.
When we consider teaching practices across the nation, two schools can be located in the same district and have contrasting and similar core curriculum practices. In the Rochester City School District, two high schools – School Without Walls and East High School have similarities and differences. Similarly, the two schools in one district are structured the same. Their structure is situated in the pedagogical framework with a teacher organizing all the objectives, goals, and lesson plans. Both schools claim to have a rigorous learning curriculum, with college and career learning paths, and intentional ways to connect learning to service (RCSD, 2021).
However, School Without Wall is part of the New York Performance Standards Consortium, a group of 27 schools across the state that have used a testing waiver over the last 20 years to demonstrate an alternate model of teaching and learning. It is one of the only schools that are a part of this consortium (School Without Walls, 2021) and it has resulted in a 94% graduation rate. SWW also does not subscribe to traditional letter grades and GPA systems. They only follow credit hours, with students earning partial credit throughout the year to earn a full credit hour for that course content. The core curriculum content allows a lot of student-driven, career focus, student-voice-orientated practices. East High School, on the other hand, follows a traditional high school model. Teachers follow a broad school outline and teach according to their students’ learning needs. East High School also is the only school in the district with its own superintendent, with the flexibility to forge community partnerships that will enhance the school’s performance. East High School currently works with the University of Rochester for college and career readiness with a heightened focus on college and career readiness (East High School, 2021).
As a former student of School Without Walls, I prefer their core curriculum structure over East. Although I have a strong working relationship with East High School, as a working professional, I enjoy the freedom and emphasis of student’s voices in the structure and execution of the core curriculum at School Without Walls. Despite the differences, as long as schools subscribe to instructional practices that are equitable for all learners to mobilize, then the school is carrying out its parts.
The second one is:
Two places for core curriculum are public schools and work force centers. School divisions in Virginia are the first place I will discuss. One core curriculum decision recently occurred among my students with disabilities is preparing them for the Virginia Essentialized Standards of Learning (VESOL). VESOL focuses on the content standards in reading, mathematics, and science and will replace the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP). This assessment is for students with significant cognitive disabilities in grades 3-8 and high school. Curriculum decisions are made based on what is required by the expected standards. The curriculum is different depending on the student’s cognitive ability because the learning standards are not the same.
The second core curriculum decision is for students with a disability that attend a workforce center. For example, students with a disability and 504 plans may attend Virginia’s Woodrow Wilson Workforce Development Center. Curriculum core decisions must be in place to support students as they prepare for the workforce incorporating workplace readiness skills. Curriculum decisions help them understand how to read basic signs, participate in assessments that target specific careers, and include accommodations. Decisions on particular standards are needed to be successful with a particular job. These individual curriculum decisions are not just educators but include businesses professionals to support the team.
I believe having businesses professionals involved in curriculum decisions and overall having teams of educators to drive curriculum decisions is an advantage and will prepare students for success. An organized plan must support the success of all students. According to CAST (2020), “the UDL Guidelines have supported educators across the globe in the design of inclusive educational experiences and environments.” Goals must be purposeful, motivating, and strategic to support the needs of gifted and talented students. Analyzing data and the needs of the population of students will help evaluate and assess the conditions. Students need to get exposure to a world beyond what they see every day to expand reading and vocabulary, which is the foundation of learning.
All curriculums include essential vocabulary, modifications, strategies to address students at different levels, and resources available within the school division. It also provides details as it pertains to the taught, written, and tested curriculum. Students with severe disabilities also have assistive technology built into the curriculum. The horizontal and vertical alignment is evident when teams work together across disciplines and levels to discuss curriculum concerns and review details to ensure skills are mastered in certain groups. According to Schneiderhan et al. (2019), “The exact nature of a curriculum should be seen as the ‘what’ of the educational experience, such as the description of the intended learning outcomes or the document used to describe these” (P.5). As to the preference, I feel they are both needed equally as the public school curriculum segway into the workforce curriculum. The VESOL is to test primary education, which is required when a student transitions into any workforce situation.