Monday, November 10, 2008
Chapter 14
To quote our text, “Curriculum guides serve as a source from which teachers may derive ideas for developing their own resource units, learning units, and lesson plans. A curriculum guide may be written by a group of teachers or planners, or by an individual.” Does your school system have curriculum guides currently in place? If yes, who worked to create the curriculum guides?
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From an elementary stand point our schools do have curriculum guides. As far as I know teachers as well as supervisors worked to create the curriculum guides using the Standards of Learning that are already in place.
Our school is not mandated to follow the Virginia SOL's; however, we use them as a springboard for learning. We use the publisher's notes as a pacing guide to make sure we cover material adequately. Each teacher submits a curriculum report that highlights the subject matter that is covered each month.
I am a special education teacher who teaches in an inclusive county. We do not have "secluded" classes, so we follow the regular education schedule and therefore the regular education curriculum. I did however have the opportunity to co-develop a functional english and functional math curriculum with fellow special education teachers. The curriculum had to be presented to the special education director and a curriculum supervisor for approval before we could implement it. The curriculum was based on "real life skills" that a disabled student would use in society.
In my school we do have curriculum guides that each department creates for subjects in which they teach. For example, in the mathematics department we were invited by our principal to write the curriculum for geometry. The meeting consisted of the principal and about half of the teachers in the department. Basically, those who were interested or teach geometry attended the meeting. The second meeting to complete the curriculum guide there were only two teachers in attendance. The curriculum guide was developed by aligning the SOL's with sections to be covered in the text. The pacing guide did not allow time to go beyond the SOL's to be covered.
Our district is in the process of creating curriculum guides, using a committee of teachers. We do not use any district wide pacing guides, teachers are free to make their own instructional decisions. Curriculum guides would serve to help teachers with alignment and making connections with their students.
We do not have a curriculum guide, committee, etc. in my school. This has been a point of frustration with our current administration. We submit our own pacing guide and use the SOL Curriculum Framework and Blueprint as our curriculum guide. During past administrations, I have worked on curriculum committees to develop curriculum guides and resource units. As a future school leader, I believe strongly in developing a curriculum framework. A cohesive and comprehensive curriculum ensures fidelity within in the instructional program.
School representatives (teachers) and curriculum supervisors work together to complete curriculum guides for our county teachers. Currently, there are curriculum guides for math, language arts, science, and social studies in place for elementary teachers. I see them as always changing and being "under construction". In schools, I see teachers adding in materials and strategies they use to develop their own units. In one curriculum area, a supervisor sends out a monthly request to get those updated materials, ideas, strategies, etc. These will be used to update the curriculum during the next printing of the guide.
I know that each teacher at my school has to create their own pacing guide that coorelates with SOL Curriculum Framework and Blueprint. Before I left the classroom, I was in a self-contained class all day and I did not have a curriculum guide but a lot has changed since then.
Clay Moran
There is an elementary curriculum guide in place for our school system. It basically follows the SOLs. The guide was created by curriculum supervisors and various elementary teachers throughout the district.
As stated, Montgomery County has curriculum pacing guides for K-5based on the SOL's. The curriculum supervisors and grade-level representatives from each school helped to create the guides. They are periodically updated.
Pulaski County has curriculum pacing guides for K-8 based on the SOL's. The curriculum supervisors and grade-level group leaders from the county helped to create the pacing guides. They are periodically updated. Pulaski County has also developed benchmark test from the pacing guides to check that students have mastered content for each 9 weeks. These test were made by grade level teachers and curriculum supervisors.
Our division is currently developing a curriculum guide for math, working with a committee of math teachers. There are no district guides in place for other subjects; our division strongly supports teachers as professionals and believes in allowing them the freedom to creatively teach the content. Many of our central office administrators have been with the division for a long time and are approaching retirement. It will be interesting to see if this belief changes with new leaders.
I teach Spanish and we do have Foreign Language curriculum guides in place for the county. They have just recently been developed and I actually worked on the development of the Spanish guide over the summer. I also worked with the French, German, and Latin teachers in creating their plans by having them use the Spanish curriculum as their guide. I worked with the English/Foreign Language Department Chair for our county and she asked that I facilitate the creation of the curriculum guides and then present them to her. I know that we were not required at that point by anyone to have the curiculum guides in place but we wanted to be proactive and assist new teachers to the county in how to best promote student success.
Our school system currently does not have a curriculum guide. I know that their have been discussions and suggestions of a need for one. I have worked in two previous school systems where they had curriculum or pacing guides. I have had two kinds of experiences with them. One system they were used as the quote mentions to "serve as a source" and then I have worked in a system where you had to follow it literally and each grading period there was a division wide assessment that EVERY child took. It did not allow for differentitation and was not a good representation of what the children new. I do like curriculum guides if they can serve as a resource becasue they can help provide a starting point and give direction for new teachers, teachers switching grade levels or subject areas, and to update any changes in curriculum objectives.
Our county's curriculum guides were created by teacher reps and curriculum supervisors. The number of teachers willing to participate in the creation of the guides traditionally has not been very high - however, there has been a definite increase in the number of teacher comments on the guides since we've begun benchmark testing in reading in math.
As the other Montgomery Co. folks said, our curriculum guides are created by volunteers and supervisors. As Jonathan kind of alluded to, these guides used to not be overly important, but now that the benchmarks follow the guides, it's a whole different ballgame. If you don't teach to the guide, your students might not be ready for the benchmark and if a student doesn't pass the benchmark you have to remediate. Unless you want to remediate all of your students, it's important to teach to the guide. Sorry if this is off topic, but all of the teachers around me continue to ask the same question. Is all of this testing worth it?
My division does have curriclum guides as well as pacing guides. Both were created with a great deal of teacher input, but as of latley the emphasis seems to be placed on our pacing guide which is used to drive our quarterly testing. The curriculum guides are not updated regularly.
As stated from an elementary stand point in Montgomery County, we have pacing guides for grades K-5 based on the SOLs. The curriculum supervisors at the School Board level participate as well as grade-level representatives who volunteer from each school help to create the guides. They are occasionally updated.
Pulaski County has curriculum guides that were created by VCAT (Vertical Curriculum Alignment Teams) several years ago. Pacing guides were also created at this time with all work being completed by teachers as assisted by central office personnel.
At my school we have to create our own pacing guide at the beginning of each semester or school year. As others that work in my division have stated we do not have specific curriculum guides for individual classes. There are positives to having curriculum guides, and would help all the teachers to be on the same page, but would stifle flexibility and creativity? Each individual teacher would have to guard against that. My division does allow each teacher to use their own creativity to teach the success of every child.
Teachers and curriculum supervisors worked together to create guides in my county.
Curriculum guides in physics follow closely the SOL for physics. These SOLs covered the subject and time-contraints don't allow us to add any additional subjects. In fact, we are pushing the classroom time limits in an attempt to cover everything that is listed in the SOL. However, I do spend more time on subjects that the students like or that I like.
In Smyth County, teachers from every course collaborated to develop curriculum maps which serve as an outline of what we are to teach (the Essential Knowledge from the SOLs when applicable) and sequence in which we are to teach it. Developed as fluid documents, they are evaluated and revised yearly.
We do have curriculum guides for all core subjects. I cannot speak for the others, but the english teachers and our county curriculum supervisor worked together to develop a curriculum guide for language arts.
Our county does have both curriculm and pacing guides. These guides were created by teachers. Teachers are given the opportunity to revisit the pacing guides yearly in order to make sure that they are meeting the needs of the students. I think that having the ability to adapt the pacing guide to reflect what teachers have learned each year is essential. As new SOL tests are released and other data is gathered teachers are provided the opportunity to align the curriculum so that it is most conducive to creating successful learning opportunities for students.
Pulaski County has curriculum guides, pacing guides, and benchmark tests based on the Virginia SOLs. These products were created (under the direction of the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction) by grade-level group leaders and classroom teachers.
Currently in our school grade levels or individual specialist create their own curriculum & pacing guides (as far as I'm aware). There is a lot going on in our county attempting to get everyone on the same page, which hasn't been done as much in the past. I like Jessica's point that our district trust the judgement of teachers and gives them the freedom to teach as they feel best. I agree with this, but do realize that some teachers may need some help with curriculum alignment to make sure they are covering all SOLs appropriately.
Our curriculum guides have been created by volunteer teachers and curriculum supervisors. They are in the classroom and additions and changes are made by classroom teachers as well as the supervisors.
I am a little behind. I am sorry. Our school system does not have curriculum guides. ALthough we do have pacing guides.
I have to follow what Loren and Judy said. We do have curriculum guides for the elementary level that were developed with supervisors and and grade level teachers.
Our county also has curriculum guides, which align the Standards of Learning to each grade level of English. It appears that those counties that have curriculum guides use the SOL's as the blueprint - then do we not have a "state curriculum?" (Each department worked on the guides over one summer.)
Currently, our school system does not have any curriculum guides. I believe that it would be extremely beneficial for our school system to have them. I have worked in school systems that have them and have worked on curriculum revision committees. From a leadership perspective it seems too idealistic to believe that all teachers are going to automatically do what is best for all of the students all of the time. Therefore, I feel that we need to have curriculum materials in place to aid in consistency and to ensure that certain standards are being met.
I believe that the trend toward increased use of curriculum and pacing guides will continue into the foreseeable future, and in general I believe that is a good thing. Because of the nature of the job, as teachers we often become so caught up in day-to-day survival - making rapid-fire decisions, solving one problem after another, and constantly putting out fires - that we lose sight of big picture goals. I think it's helpful to have the central office provide some guidance and a series of "barometer readings" throughout the year in the form of pacing guides and benchmark tests to give folks a chance to check on their students' progress. Of course, I'm the one writing the tests...
Our school system does have two frameworks for English instruction one specifically within reading and the other specifically within writing. The frameworks are also divided into K-3 and 4-5.
The frameworks were written, edited and revised by teachers and reading specialists within the county.
As previously mentioned, each teacher or grade level develops their own pacing guides. Most teachers, especially new to the county, would benefit from standard or suggested district-wide pacing guides.
I agree with Jonathan that there will be more standardized guides in teh future. I look forward to some of those in our system but hope the pendulum doesn't swing too far in the direction that C. Wilson mentioned (of follow "this" every day/week/term)
Montgomery County, as people have noted, does have curriculum guides which were created by the curriculum specialists and classroom teachers. They are updated periodically.
Pulaski County does have curriculum guides. They were developed by teachers and administrators from the building and SBO levels. They are a continuous work in progress. Teachers reveiw them as the year progresses. Changes are made near the end of school each year.
Patrick County has curriculum guides that are developed by teacher during the summer based on subject and grade level.
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