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Improving Standards-Based Learning

A Process Guide for Educational Leaders

By: Judy F. Carr, Doug Harris

Use this tool kit to develop a high-quality curriculum that impacts student learning!

This comprehensive resource leads educators through the design, implementation, and evaluation of standards-based curriculum. The book is packed with ready-to-use tools that can be tailored to meet specific school and district needs, including guidelines and strategies, examples from schools and districts, and illustrative graphics and vignettes. The authors address key issues, including:

How is curriculum put together?
Who should be involved and what should be included?
How should we go about it and how long will it take?
What should be considered during implementation?
How is curriculum evaluated?

Full description

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Product Details

Grade Level: K-12
ISBN: 9781412965705
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2009
Page Count: 200
Publication date: June 09, 2009

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Description

"This is the best nuts-and-bolts guide for improving teaching and learning in our schools. Carr and Harris have been successful in every school district they have consulted in. Now we have access to their insight and experience in a book that is perfectly laid out with examples and worksheets to guide successful instructional improvement. If you're serious about instructional leadership, this is the one book you need on your desk."
—Kenneth W. Eastwood, Superintendent
Middletown City School District, NY

Use this tool kit to develop a high-quality curriculum that impacts student learning!

Although schools and districts across the country have made notable strides in their instructional programs, educators continue to struggle with developing curriculum that addresses each learner's needs and strengths, is aligned to instruction and assessment, supports standards-based learning, and results in increased student learning. In this book, the authors provide a curriculum and improvement process that not only shows school leaders how to design a strong, coherent curriculum but also leads the reader through the critical processes of implementing and then evaluating that curriculum for instructional improvement.

This resource is packed with ready-to-use tools that can be tailored to meet site-specific needs and includes examples from schools and districts, proven strategies, guidelines and worksheets, graphics and vignettes that illustrate key points, and questions that promote reflection. The book addresses key issues, including

How is curriculum put together?
Who should be involved and what should be included?
How should we go about it and how long will it take?
What should be considered during implementation?
How is curriculum evaluated?

Whether you are experienced or just getting started, Improving Standards-Based Learning provides an accessible framework with numerous tools for developing a curriculum that can generate substantive improvement in teaching and learning.

Key features

Provides strategies, examples, vignettes, and reflective questions to help educators:

Develop and publish curriculum guidelines
Develop common assessments
Prepare and conduct committee meetings
Plan for, and support, implementation
Evaluate the curriculum program

Author(s)

Judy F. Carr

Judy F. Carr teaches half-time in the Educational Leadership Program at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. She is also codirector of the Center for Curriculum Renewal, a consultant, facilitator, professional development specialist, workshop presenter, and program evaluator with educators and policy makers in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean. She is coauthor or coeditor of the following books: A Pig Don’t Get Fatter the More You Weigh It: Balancing Classroom Assessment; Creating Dynamic Schools Through Mentoring, Coaching, and Collaboration; Succeeding with Standards: Linking Curriculum, Assessment, and Action Planning; How to Use Standards in the Classroom; Integrated Studies in the Middle Grades: Dancing Through Walls; and Living and Learning in the Middle Grades: The Dance Continues: A Festschrift for Chris Stevenson.

Carr has expertise in K-12 curriculum, instruction, and assessment; standards-based education reform; design of professional development materials and processes; systems change implementation with leadership teams in school districts and state agencies; and middle grades education. She has been a middle school teacher and a K-12 curriculum director. She was the recipient of the second annual Vermont ASCD Curriculum Leadership Award.

Doug Harris

Table of Contents

List of Worksheets

Preface

1. Creating the Focus for Standards-Based Learning

2. Establishing a Curriculum Development, Implementation, Evaluation Cycle

3. Preparing for Committee Meetings

4. Group Dynamics: A Guide for the Committee Chair

5. Developing the K-12 Curriculum Guidelines

6. Publishing and Celebrating the Document

7. Development of Common Assessments: A Design Overview

8. Planning for Implementation

9. Three Strategies to Support Implementation

10. Curriculum-Based Program Evaluation

References

Index

Reviews

“Carr and Harris have laid out a very clear and flexible process for developing a standards-based and learner-centered curriculum. Drawing from their experience working with schools and districts, they have compiled a set of processes, tools, and examples that will be invaluable to those charged with developing or revising curriculum. What makes this book so practical is that each of the stages of the curriculum development process can stand alone. Experienced school leaders can select the tools they need while others have a comprehensive set of procedures to guide them.”

Doug Walker, Senior Research Associate
RMC Research Corporation

“From two of the best educational consultants who know how to develop and mentor instructional leaders on the successful implementation of standards-based curriculum, this is the best nuts-and-bolts guide for improving teaching and learning in our schools. Carr and Harris have been successful in every school district for which they have consulted. Now we all have access to their wonderful insight and experience in a book that is perfectly laid out with examples and worksheets to guide successful instructional improvement. If you’re serious about instructional leadership, this is the one book you need on your desk.”

Kenneth W. Eastwood, Superintendent
Middletown City School District, NY

"As a school leader, I look for avenues to drive and support school change. This resource is a tool kit for teacher leaders and school leaders to create urgency for change and support change with these planning documents and templates. The work of Harris and Carr remains grounded in teacher leadership, ongoing support for administrators, and relevance. This resource has assisted in our academic turnaround and the building of a team of change agents among teachers and administrators."

Joseph E. Hochreiter, Superintendent
Elmira City School District, NY

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

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