Authors: Pearl G. Solomon
ISBN-13: 9781412969840, ISBN-10: 1412969840
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Corwin Press
Date Published: January 2009
Edition: 3rd Edition
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.
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:
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.
Preface | ||
About the Author | ||
1 | Why Standards and Tests Are on the Front Page | 1 |
At the Top of the Political Agenda: Education | 2 | |
Why the Focus on Standards and Tests? | 3 | |
The No Child Left Behind Legislation | 4 | |
The Media Influence Opinions on Standards | 9 | |
The Origins of the Current Wave of Public Concern | 11 | |
Initial Responses of the Educational Community | 13 | |
Government Calls for Reform | 15 | |
Initial Responses to the Calls for Reform | 16 | |
Standards in Other Countries | 17 | |
A Summary: Systemic Change, Restructuring, and Reform | 19 | |
2 | Who Chooses the Curriculum: Are Standards and Tests Necessary? | 22 |
Some Charismatic Differences of Opinion | 23 | |
The Public Responds | 25 | |
Teachers and Teacher Organizations Respond | 27 | |
Teacher Educators and Researchers Respond | 29 | |
Control of Curriculum | 32 | |
Nongovernment Influences on Curriculum | 36 | |
Getting Ready to Design Curriculum | 48 | |
3 | What We Now Know About How Learning Happens | 50 |
Educational Philosophy: Piaget and Constructivism | 53 | |
The Changing Nature of the Concept of Intelligence | 59 | |
Cognition, Metacognition, and Goals: Connections to Practice | 72 | |
Interest | 73 | |
Real Experiences and Technology in the Instructional Process | 74 | |
4 | Choosing Standards and "Designing Them Down" | 81 |
The Curriculum Committee Meets | 82 | |
A Bit of History | 84 | |
Defining Standards in New Terms | 86 | |
Curriculum Enactment | 89 | |
5 | Constructing Creative Classrooms | 102 |
Organizing the Environment | 103 | |
The Actors | 114 | |
The Script | 119 | |
6 | How Are We Doing? Measuring Success | 127 |
Standards and Their Measures | 128 | |
The Purposes of Measures or Assessments | 129 | |
The Consequences of High-Stakes Assessments | 132 | |
Improving HSSB Tests | 134 | |
Where Should Meg, April, and Brad Begin? | 136 | |
A History of Assessment Forms | 138 | |
Challenge 1: Establishing Validity | 141 | |
Challenge 2: Tasks or Performances Versus Concepts | 141 | |
Challenge 3: Writing Rubrics | 149 | |
Challenge 4: Disaggregating the Assessment Results | 153 | |
Challenge 5: Levels of Performance, Grading | 156 | |
Challenge 6: Sharing Results With Students, Parents, and the Community | 157 | |
7 | Where Do We Go From Here? | 162 |
Where Will the Leadership for Needed Change Come From? | 163 | |
Professional Development for Teachers | 169 | |
Using Technology and Its Networks for Sharing Curriculum and Research | 176 | |
Technology for Communicating With Our Public | 176 | |
References | 179 | |
Index | 191 |