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Running head: Curriculum Guide

FBLA: Curriculum Document Review

17 hours
Brian Conway
Drake University
EDL 273: Instruction and Learning
Elaine Smith-Bright
May 2, 2014

COMMENDATIONS:

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Curriculum Guide

When researching curriculum, it is important to discover whether materials are sufficient

in meeting the needs of all the different sub-groups that are to be reported out on. Curriculum
that is dynamic, rigorous, and is aligned to state and national standards is always the goal. I
recently spent time researching the math curriculum used at the Kindergarten through sixth grade
levels in the Newton Community School District. The Everyday Math curriculum is on its fourth
instructional year in the district. Throughout this process, I have been able to gain valuable
insight regarding the sustainability of this curriculum in the Newton school district.
Because of the newly adopted Common Core, the Newton Community School district has
chosen a different route than creating a curriculum guide. The Common Core is used as the
framework we use to teach to. At the elementary level the past three years, we have decided to
purchase curriculums that align with the Common Core. We use those materials to teach to the
Common Core. Some of the basic steps to creating a curriculum mapping document and overall
plan of action are completed but the whole process has yet to get underway. Because we teach to
the Core, we have not spent significant time trying to analyze whether our curriculum really
aligns with the Core. When our district focused on purchasing a curriculum like Everyday
Mathematics, we were able to hit the ground running and know that we aligned ourselves closely
to the Core. In comparison to other districts, we are ahead of the game and can skip the step of
analyzing the curriculum to see that it meets the Core. This allows our teachers to really focus
their professional development time on teaching strategies specific to Everyday Mathematics.
The last two years have been spent training teachers and administrators on how to use the
Common Core effectively to meet instructional goals in the classroom. After a year exploring
the Common Core, the district purchased Everyday Mathematics. The district decided then to
have some teachers serve as pilot teachers. These teachers spent the first year exploring the

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curriculum and developing strategies to help train the remaining teachers in the district the next
couple of years. The district also decided to invest in instructional coaches. This allowed the
district the time to fully implement the program and develop pacing guides and rubrics for grade
levels to use. All of these decisions were important to creating a curriculum district-wide that is
sustainable and viable for years to come. Educators in the district are instructed to follow the
curriculum pacing and instructional strategies because Best Practices are heavily embedded
within them.
RECOGNITION OF COMMON CORE:
The Common Core Standards and Benchmarks provide a framework to work from. The
Newton Community School District has decided to purchase materials to meet the Common
Core. When researching curriculum, a team of administrators and teachers analyze and evaluate
if curriculums we are considering meet the Common Core State Standards. These standards
govern curriculum decisions in our district. This curriculum provides a book that is devoted to
showing how it meets the NCTM Mathematics Focal Points. The Everyday Math curriculum
does align well with the Common Core. Since we currently have the 2007 version of the
curriculum, there are gaps that need to be further analyzed and addressed. These gaps seem to be
few and far between. If a district were to purchase the latest version of Everyday Mathematics,
the company has guaranteed 100% alignment. If my district were in this position, there would be
little need to develop a curriculum guide. With the companys assurance of full alignment, we
would be in the position to fully trust in the materials that we have purchased.
There has also been significant time spent over the past two years in professional
development to ensure that our curriculum is aligned vertically and horizontally through the

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Common Core and Everyday Mathematics. This is a basic principle of both the Common Core
and Everyday Mathematics. Time has been spent with other grade levels in the district
identifying what are essential grade level goals and what are secondary goals for a particular
grade level. Professional development time has also been spent with team members in our own
grade level making sure the curriculum material has been taught with fidelity and uniformly
throughout every classroom. We have made sure to identify common assessments and measures
to asses those things.
Lastly, each grade level takes time to analyze Iowa Assessment scores and go through
trends in question. We analyze the mathematics tests and determine if our instructional strategies
or curriculum is weak in any area. This is one of the examples we do to determine if we need to
supplement our curriculum with any other materials.
REFLECTION AND ANALYSIS:
Upon reviewing the district curriculum, I can see that we have some basic principles and
practices in place to help guide the district to make smart and sustainable curriculum decisions.
The professional development opportunities that were made available to learn about the
Common Core were essential to learning the standards and benchmarks we are asked to meet on
a yearly basis. All teachers were provided with a hard copy of the Common Core standards and
benchmarks for Reading, Language Arts, and Mathematics. Time was spent by our local AEA
training teachers in components of the Common Core.
Frequently, professional development is provided in a new curriculum that we are
looking to purchase. In the case of Everyday Math, we spent the first year exploring the
curriculum and how it aligned. The district then asked for volunteers to be pilot teachers. Those

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teachers spent the remainder of the first year attending special trainings and observations of other
districts to learn more about the curriculum. With the help of instructional coaches and these
teacher leaders, the district did not have to rush through the implementation process for
Everyday Mathematics. With a curriculum that is focused so heavily on new learning for
students, parents, and even teachers, this was essential to our success.
Four years ago, the Newton Community School district utilized curriculum mapping and
had curriculum guides. My experience with curriculum mapping was that there was little to no
follow-through. This made the whole process unsuccessful and of subpar quality. Guides ranged
from being very helpful to unusable. With that being said, I think that because the district uses
the Iowa Core, it is time to dive deeper into the curriculum materials to see where our curriculum
is lacking and where the supplementing of materials needs to happen. A curriculum map for
mathematics would be helpful. I also believe we can be more transparent on what criteria we use
to measure student success. Making learning targets and instructional goals easily accessible to
the public will be the next key step in legitimatizing our curriculum.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Short Term Steps
I think there are a few easy steps that the Newton Community School District can take to
ensure that our curriculum is available to all stakeholders involved in student learning. I think
the first step to be taken is publishing our curriculum on our school website. Right now, parents
receive information at conferences and at the end of semester and are bombarded by the amount
of standards and benchmarks we report out on with the Everyday Math curriculum. By parents
own admission, all of these things are hard to interpret in a short amount of time and they leave

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often times confused. I would propose putting our grading system on our district website for the
public to see at all times so there is active discussion going on throughout the year. This will
allow parents to become more educated on what standards-based grading really means when we
talk about mathematics. The Newton district has done a good job in other areas of educating
parents with resources available throughout our curriculum. This would be another step in
getting all parties on board with a document that is easily accessible.
The next step to be taken is to develop a committee that involves parents, PTA members,
teachers, students, and administrators. Like most districts, we have a SIAC committee.
Curriculum development is not really a focal point of this committee though. Making
curriculum a focal point of every meeting would be a minor change that could be made to
agendas to allow for meaningful input from people outside of the school system.
Another short-term goal that could be accomplished would be the creation of district
level rubrics at every grade level. Right now, a majority of grade levels have come together and
created a document that maps out all the assessment pieces throughout the whole curriculum.
They then have created rubrics for every question that is to be assessed throughout a given unit.
This is common practice as a whole but not all grade levels have adopted this philosophy and
system. With our report card for mathematics being standards-based, it is essential that every
grade level accomplishes this so that our curriculum is assessed consistently in every grade level.
Lastly, another short term goal my district can work on accomplishing is preparing new
teachers for the curriculum materials they will use. Often times, new teachers come to the
district and have no background knowledge of instructional materials that will be utilized. To
ensure that all teachers are prepared and confident with the materials at the start of the year, I

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would propose that a half day of the new teacher training is devoted to curriculum exploration.
The district could bring in team leaders for a half day at various grade levels to help guide our
new teachers to feel confident in what instructional goals they will be looking to meet.
Long Term Steps
It is common practice for the Newton Community School District to include committees
of teachers and administrators when looking at adopting new curriculum. These committees
meet for two to three days to analyze and evaluate different curriculums. From there, decisions
are made on which curriculum would be the best fit for reaching instructional goals set out by the
Common Core curriculum. Careful consideration is paid to whether the curriculum we purchase
fully aligns with the Common Core or if there are some areas teachers will need to supplement
with new materials.
Because my district purchases materials in order to meet the Common Core, I feel that it
is extremely necessary to spend professional development time during the first year of
implementation to really unpack the standards and see where our curriculum falls short. To
ensure that our newly purchased curriculum is viable for the future, we must be continually in
search of improving that curriculum. When the Everyday Math process began, teachers were
instructed to stick to the curriculum. It is time that the district developed committees to take time
to analyze the data and see where our curriculum falls short. We need to ask ourselves where we
need to supplement for Everyday Math. Taking a long, hard look at the data from Iowa
Assessments can help decision makers figure out where our students still score low. If those
scores are below average district wide, then we need to look at materials that are going to make
our math instruction reach a higher quality. Because of the strong vertical alignment piece to the

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Common Core and the Everyday Math program goals, my district has identified primary skills
and secondary skills in each grade level. As noted above, the horizontal alignment of curriculum
can sometimes be harder than one might think. The Newton Community School District needs
to make sure that all instructional decisions and assessment decisions are as consistent as
possible.
I believe our district needs to go back to a curriculum mapping system. By being
proactive and implementing some of the ideas from above, the Newton Community School
District can find curriculum that will be sustainable well into the future. This type of growthmindset helps educators reach higher levels of productivity and success and allows a district to
help students become successful later in life.