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Aligning and Balancing the Standards-Based Curriculum

By: David A. Squires

Foreword by Fenwick W. English

What experts say about how the Balanced Curriculum process can tip the scales in favor of students!

Aligning and Balancing the Standards-Based Curriculum highlights the research, theory, method, practice, and implementation guidelines from a successful 15-year track record of schools already using the Balanced Curriculum process. Benefit from the invaluable insights, experience, and expertise of author David A. Squires, as he outlines curriculum innovations that include:

Web-based solutions to simplify curriculum development and writing
Professional development opportunities designed to achieve school and districtwide consensus on curriculum development
Practical methods for ensuring that the curriculum is consistently reviewed, evaluated, enhanced, aligned, and rebalanced

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9780761939634
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2004
Page Count: 344
Publication date: September 22, 2004

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Description

What the experts say about how the Balanced Curriculum process can tip the scales in favor of your students!

"The work that Dr. Squires has done in moving the curriculum development process onto the Web has removed some of the tedium involved in crafting curriculum, making it 'user friendly' and open to the kinds of ongoing changes that make the promise of continual renewal of curriculum a reality."
From the Foreword by Fenwick W. English
--R. Wendell Eaves Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"A coherent approach to curriculum, instruction, and assessment in the age of standards-driven education…. It will be an excellent contribution."
--H. Lynn Erickson
Author, Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction

"I'm happy with the Balanced Curriculum process, my Board is happy, and my students are benefiting by it."
--Philomena T. Pezzano, District Superintendent
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey Public Schools

"The book builds a bridge of confidence that will convince readers of both the ideas and of their own ability to succeed."
--David W. Champagne, Professor Emeritus
University of Pittsburgh

"A wonderful and thorough explanation of the Balanced Curriculum."
--Michelle Barnea, Educational Consultant
Milburn, New Jersey

Aligning and Balancing the Standards-Based Curriculum highlights the research, theory, method, practice, and implementation guidelines from a successful 15-year track record of schools already using the BalancedCurriculum.com Web site and its curriculum balancing process.

Benefit from the invaluable insights, experience, and expertise of author David A. Squires, as he outlines curriculum innovations that include:

Web-based solutions to simplify curriculum development and writing
Professional development opportunities designed to achieve school and districtwide consensus on curriculum development
Practical methods for ensuring that the curriculum is consistently reviewed, evaluated, enhanced, aligned, and rebalanced

Full of field-tested practices, clear-sighted diagrams, sample lessons, assessments, and case studies, this comprehensive handbook shows how schools and districts all across the nation can use the Balanced Curriculum process to put their schools on the track to success.

Key features

Aligns curriculum, instruction, student assessment, and continuous program evaluation and improvement with content standards and standardized tests
Research based, data driven, field tested, and in active use for more than fifteen years at urban and rural schools and districts
Offers a comprehensive collection of curriculum mapping and assessment tools, including sample lessons, rubrics, planning guides, state-specific examples of implementation; and screen shots from the online database, all illustrating the balanced curriculum process in action.

Author(s)

David A. Squires

David A. Squires is currently an associate professor working with doctoral students in the Educational Leadership Program at Southern Connecticut State University, specializing in curriculum, school reform, and organizational development. Previous positions include with the Comer School Development Program at Yale University; as a central office administrator for over a decade in Red Bank, New Jersey, where student achievement improved from below to above grade level; as a research specialist at Research for Better Schools in Philadelphia; as a graduate research assistant in the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh, where he received his doctorate in curriculum and supervision with minors in language arts education and administration; and as a high school English teacher in suburban Pittsburgh and inner-city Cleveland. He heads a consulting firm, ABC Education Consultants, LLC, that assists school districts in writing and implementing the Balanced Curriculum.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

About the Author

About the Balanced Curriculum Web Site

Introduction

Section I. Curriculum Tools and Concepts: Textbooks, Standards, Alignment, and Standardized Testing

1. Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment, and Standards

2. Textbooks: What the Research Says

3. Understanding and Using National, State, and Local Frameworks and Standards

4. The Importance of Aligning Curriculum

5. The Conundrum of Standardized Testing

Section II. The Design of the Balanced Curriculum

6. Curriculum Structure and Criteria for a Useful and Useable Curriculum

7. The Balanced Curriculum Process

8. Setting Up the Curriculum Writing Process

9. Defining the Components of a Good Program

10. Reviewing Standards, Sequencing Courses, Describing Units, and Delineating Unit Timelines

11. Other Standards for Alignment and Balance

12. Generating and Validating Significant Tasks

13. Aligning the Balanced Curriculum With Standards and Assessments

14. Balancing the Aligned Curriculum

15. Constructing Content Assessments

16. Constructing Format Assessments

Section III. Staff Development for and Results of the Balanced Curriculum

17. Introducing the Balanced Curriculum Process in a District

18. Staff Development to Promote Curriculum Implementation

19. The Superintendent's Role

20. The Results So Far: Fifteen Years of Data From Urban, Suburban, and Rural Schools

Bibliography

Index

Reviews

"A coherent approach to curriculum, instruction, and assessment in the age of standards-driven education. It will be an excellent contribution."

H. Lynn Erickson
Author, Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction

"I’m happy with the Balanced Curriculum process, my Board is happy, and my students are benefiting from it."

Philomena T. Pezzano, District Superintendent
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey Public Schools

"The book builds a bridge of confidence that will convince readers of both the ideas and of their own ability to succeed."

David W. Champagne, Professor Emeritus
University of Pittsburgh

"A wonderful and thorough explanation of the Balanced Curriculum."

Michelle Barnea, Educational Consultant
Milburn, New Jersey

"The work that Dr. Squires has done in moving the curriculum development process onto the Web has removed some of the tedium involved in crafting curriculum, making it ‘user friendly’ and open to the kinds of ongoing changes that make the promise of continual renewal of curriculum a reality."

From the Foreword by Fenwick W. English, R. Wendell Eaves Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hills

Other Titles in: Standards & Accountability | Teaching Methods & Learning Styles | Learning Styles

Select Format:

Review Copies

This book is not available as a review copy.