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Updated Edition of Bestseller

The Curriculum Bridge

From Standards to Actual Classroom Practice

Third Edition
By: Pearl G. Solomon

Translate standards into classroom curriculum that fulfills accountability requirements and meets students' learning needs!

This comprehensive third edition of an award-winning book discusses the bridge between the written and the taught curriculum and helps educators balance the needs of students with federal mandates. The book offers:

An up-to-date review of educational research, including how learning takes place
An overview of how the current political environment and public opinion affect standards and curriculum
Ways to connect curriculum and standards to best teaching practices
Information on traditional, alternative, and high-stakes assessments
Expanded coverage of professional development

Full description

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Product Details

Grade Level: K-12
ISBN: 9781412969840
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2009
Page Count: 248
Publication date: January 08, 2009

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This book is not available as a review copy.

Description

"Comprehensive in scope, this book thoroughly lays out what a classroom teacher or curriculum developer needs to do to create an effective curriculum that can then be adapted into actual classroom instruction."
—Stephen D. Shepperd, Principal
Sunnyside Elementary School, Kellogg, ID

Translate standards into classroom curriculum that fulfills accountability requirements and meets students' learning needs!

Meeting the individual needs of students and the requirements of federal mandates is a challenge that educators face every day. This third edition of an award-winning book focuses on curriculum, content standards, teaching, and testing and provides teachers with solid guidelines for best practices.

In this detailed, comprehensive guide, Pearl Gold Solomon discusses the bridge between the written and the taught curriculum and gives readers a big-picture overview of how the current political environment and public opinion affect standards and curriculum. The book offers:

An up-to-date review of educational research, including how learning takes place
Ways to connect curriculum and standards to best teaching practices
Information on traditional, alternative, and high-stakes assessments
Expanded coverage of how best to plan and implement professional development

This information-rich resource is an indispensable tool for all educators who want to make informed and meaningful decisions to promote standards-based instruction, improve student outcomes, and create the best possible environments for learning.

Key features

Updated edition of Choice award-winning book.
Connects curriculum and standards to best teaching practices.
Covers traditional, alternative, and high-stakes assessments.
Strong potential for course adoptions and in-service workshops.

Author(s)

Pearl G. Solomon

Pearl G. Solomon is professor emerita of teacher education at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, New York. She has served as a director and officer for professional organizations and as a consultant to many school districts, the New York State Education Department, and the United States Department of Education. Solomon is the recipient of a number of special awards from the state and community for her work in science, math, health, and career education.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Third Edition

Who Should Read This Book

What This Book Is About

Acknowledgments

About the Author

1. Why Standards and Tests Are on the Front Page

About This Chapter

At the Top of the Political Agenda: Education

Why the Focus on Standards and Tests?

The No Child Left Behind Legislation

Economic Influences and Some Words of Caution

The Media Influence Opinions on Standards

The Origins of the Current Wave of Public Concern

Initial Responses of the Educational Community

Government Calls for Reform

Initial Responses to the Calls for Reform

Standards in Other Countries

A Summary: Systemic Change, Restructuring, and Reform

Notes

2. Who Chooses the Curriculum? Are Standards and Tests Necessary?

About This Chapter

Some Charismatic Differences of Opinion

The Public Concerns, Opinions, and Influences

Teachers and Teacher Organizations Respond

University Professors and Researchers Respond

Forms of Curriculum Control

Nongovernment Influences on Curriculum

Getting Ready to Design Curriculum

Notes

3. About How Learning Happens

About This Chapter

Educational Philosophy: Piaget and Constructivism

Compromise

The Changing Nature of the Concept of Intelligence

Cognition, Metacognition, and Goals: Connections to Practice

Interest

Real Experiences and Technology in the Instructional Process

Connecting Research to Practice: Summary Hypotheses

Notes

4. Choosing Standards and ?Designing Them Down?

About This Chapter

The Curriculum Committee Meets

A Bit of History

Defining Standards in New Terms

Curriculum Enactment

5. Constructing Creative Classrooms

About This Chapter?Dealing With the Differences

Organizing the Environment

The Actors: The Performers and Their Director

The Script: The Overall Plot

Notes

6. How Are We Doing? Measuring Success

About This Chapter

Standards and Their Measures

The Purposes of Measures or Assessments

A History of Assessment Forms

The Quality and Consequences of High-Stakes Assessments

Improving HSSB Tests

Where Should Meg, April, and Brad Begin?

Challenge 1: Establishing Validity and Testing Reliability

Challenge 2: Tasks or Performances Versus Concepts

Challenge 3: Writing Rubrics

Challenge 4: Disaggregating the Assessment Results

Challenge 5: Levels of Performance, Grading

Challenge 6: Sharing Results With Students, Parents, and the Community

Notes

7. Where Do We Go From Here?

About This Chapter

Where Will the Leadership for Needed Change Come From?

Professional Development for Teachers

Using Technology and Its Networks for Sharing Curriculum and Research

Technology for Communicating With Our Public

Notes

References

Index

Reviews

"This book provides good, practical suggestions and ideas, and shows their connections to educational research."

Gary Schumacher, Superintendent
Monona Grove School District, WI

"Comprehensive in scope, this book thoroughly lays out what a classroom teacher or curriculum developer needs to do to create an effective curriculum that can then be adapted into actual classroom instruction."

Stephen D. Shepperd, Principal
Sunnyside Elementary School, Kellogg, ID

Other Titles in: Teaching Methods & Learning Styles

Select Format:

Review Copies

This book is not available as a review copy.