Overview

Overview

"It is amazing to me how in all the hoopla and debate these days about decline of education in the United States, we continue to ignore the most fundamental of its causes: Our students have changed radically. Today's students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach. Our digital immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely different language."
~ Marc Prensky, Author of Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

"Different kinds of experiences lead to different brain structures. It is very likely that students' brains have physically changed, and certainly, their thinking patterns have changed."
Dr. Bruce D. Berry, Phd., Medical Researcher for Baylor College of Medicine

As we enter the Knowledge Age, what type of learning environments must be created, and what type of curriculum and instruction will be necessary to prepare today's students for future success in a rapidly changing world?

This solution serves as a model of a learning experience that incorporates the curriculum design and assessment concepts found in Understanding by Design, authored by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. Their purpose was to assist educators by providing, "practical design tools including criteria for selecting 'big ideas' worthy of deep understanding, strategies for framing units of study around essential questions, a continuum of assessment methods for determining the degree to which students understand, and a framework which enhances student engagement and rethinking. It helps educators enhance their understanding of what it means to truly understand, so the curriculum and assessments they design truly focus on enhancing the understanding of their students."

Enduring Understanding
Quality instruction today differs from the didactic instructional approach that has served education for past decades. Through effective use of technology and systems thinking, educators can function as a learning organization that focuses on continuous improvement through the effective development, alignment, delivery and management of curriculum.

Essential Questions

What is Knowledge Age Curriculum Management?
How does Backward Design differ from typical instructional practices, and how can it improve the planning, instruction and assessment?
Why should we use curriculum maps as the foundation for curriculum development?
How can technology be used to improve and enhance curriculum management?
How does thinking like an assessor differ from thinking like an activity designer, and what role does technology offer for efficient and effective assessment strategies?
What role can technology play in curriculum alignment?
What research-based, high-yield strategies are appropriate for inclusion in District 11 Diamond Lessons?
How can the Nine Research-Based Strategies of Bob Marzano and McREL increase the quality of learning experiences?
How is differentiated instruction an effective approach and strategy for closing the achievement gap?
What is quality in education?

Project

Participants will create one or more Instructional Units including lesson plans and resources for the content area they teach.

Participant Performance by Cumulative Assessment
Items due at the completion of each module:	Evaluation	Points
Module 1 - Preliminary Curriculum Design Scope	Checklist	0
Module 2 – Curriculum Management Status WIKI Responses	Holistic Rubric	15
Module 3 - Curriculum Design Scope	Checklist	9
Module 3 - Components of Instructional Unit Template	Holistic Rubric	15
Module 3 – Assessment Blueprint Template Completed Sample	Holistic Rubric	15
Module 3 - Written Description of Big Ideas to Peers or Students	Checklist	1
Module 4 – Inclusion of Research-Based Strategies	Holistic Rubric	15
Module 5 – Differentiated Instruction: Supports and Extensions	Holistic Rubric	15
Project Presentation Peer Review Form	Analytic Rubric	15
Total		100
Evaluation for this Professional Development	Survey