Curriculum and Assessment to Improve Teaching and Learning

Abstract: The chapter is prefaced by the idea of ridding the idea of a "core of common knowledge" (31), which ignores the natural reactions of students to materials presented within the class. The chapter discusses developing curriculum by determining academic and performance standards. Standards are the structure upon which learning is based, and once these are established the rest of the lesson planning will effectively follow. In order to ensure that all students meet these standards, scaffolding must occur. Teachers must make time to find out where students need help, and offer assistance in all aspects of the lesson. Again we are back to backwards design, with basing lessons around what students should know and be able to do, and then base assessments around these crucial factors.
Synthesis: The idea of moving away from the "core of common knowledge" is interesting as the phrase implies to me the idea of students as a blank canvas, capable of being filled with our information. This is clearly blatantly inaccurate as students come with previous experiences and background information. I love the idea of engaging students within curriculum based upon interest as opposed to coverage. I feel that the only effective method of teaching students is to connect subjects and topics to real life experiences within the lives of students, thus putting students in control of their own learning. I think that students should be given the opportunity to reflect upon learning after all lessons to ensure that they are able to explain what was effective and what was ineffective within the lesson. Thus, if students feel that a lesson did not help them, I would like the student to explain why and how they what lesson would have better helped them to understand.