Assume that you are the curriculum designer for a school district. The school board has requested that several teams develop proposals for new curricula to meet newly established state standards

Assume that you are the curriculum designer for a school district

Scenario for Assignments 1-3
Assume that you are the curriculum designer for a school district. The school board has requested that several teams develop proposals for new curricula to meet newly established state standards. You and your team must develop the first proposal to provide as a pilot or model for the other teams. You have to first identify a specific curriculum area not currently used in the school district that would greatly benefit the students in the district. Use the Internet or the Strayer Library as well as your textbook to develop a pilot curriculum for a specific discipline area (reading, math, science, etc.) or grade level (K-12) at a local school district.

Assignment 1: Curriculum Inception
Due Week 3 and worth 180 points

Write a four to six (4-6) page paper in which you:

Describe the school district for which the pilot curriculum will be developed using information for the school district’s publications and / or Website, addressing the following characteristics: (a) geographical location, (b) demographics of the student population, (c) cultural influences (peer culture, race, ethnicity, regional), regional accrediting body standards for curriculum development, (d) state and / or local policies and practices related to curriculum development.
Describe the specific discipline and grade level(s) for which the pilot curriculum will be developed.
Provide a rationale that proposes three (3) benefits to the students of the pilot curriculum.
Provide at least four (4) core instructional goals of the curriculum, providing a rationale for the goals.
Use at least three (3) relevant, scholarly references published in the last seven (7) years. (Note:Wikipedia and other non-government Websites do not qualify as scholarly resources. Review the supplementary readings listed on the first page of the course guide for possible references.)

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Identify the key elements of curriculum design and development.
Compare the philosophical foundations of curriculum.
Develop the strategies and techniques to support curriculum planning.
Design curriculum plan for a current or future school setting.
Create implementation approaches for curriculum.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in curriculum planning.
Write clearly and concisely about curriculum design and development using proper writing mechanics.

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

Expert Answer and Explanation

Sample Pilot Curriculum

This paper explores a proposed pilot curriculum for the K-12 science education system

Description of school district for which the pilot curriculum will be used

The school district chosen for developing a pilot curriculum is Connecticut’s Congressional District 1. According to the American community survey (2015), the district has a total population of 711,436 people. Whites account for a proportion of 497,769, African Americans account for 110,721 of the population, American Indians account for 2,917 of the population, and the rest are comprised of other races including Asian and Hispanics (United States Census Bureau, 2015).

The American community survey (2015) also reports that the district has 175,066 people above the age of three years enrolled in school. Of this, 66,438 are in elementary school (grades 1-8), and 38,339 are in high school (grades 9-12) (United States Census Bureau, 2015). These are the ones that the pilot curriculum will affect.

Description of K-12 science education

Science, engineering, and technology permeate all aspects of our current lives (National Research Council, 2012a). These subjects are important as it helps address mankind’s current and future problems. However, there are few persons with the necessary background in these fields and hence do not have the knowledge needed in tackling the challenges faced by mankind. This situation has led to people demanding that a new approach to teaching these fields in the United States is developed (National Research Council, 2012a).

This resulted in the Committee on Conceptual Framework developing new K-12 science education standards which outline a wide range of expectations for learners of these fields. The purpose of framework developed was to make sure that by the end of the 12^th grade: learners will appreciate the wonder and beauty of science; learners will possess the necessary skills to pick careers in scientific fields; learners are keen consumers of scientific information that they come across in their daily lives; and learners have adequate scientific knowledge that would enable them to engage in public debates on issues affecting our world and humanity at large.

It may be seen that the current K-12 science education system in the country does not enable achievement of the said goals. Its curriculum is not systematically organized across the 12 years of school that it covers. The curriculum also emphasizes on discrete facts that lead to focus on breadth instead of depth. As such, it does not provide learners with engaging opportunities to understand what science is.

The pilot curriculum for the K-12 science education system is designed to address these issues. The pilot curriculum emphasizes on bigger enhancements of the K-12 science and engineering education system by aligning its components (including assessments and standards, offering adequate time for learning, and supporting new and reputable teachers) with the vision discussed above.

Core instructional goals of the pilot curriculum

As has already been explained in this paper, the pilot curriculum intends to address the deficiency in the current K-12 science education system. The pilot curriculum will be based on the numerous studies that have been conducted on the topic of learning and teaching science. The curriculum is also based on the growing body of research that tackles basic skills and knowledge from K-12 science education.

The pilot curriculum proposes that K-12 science is based on fewer numbers of disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering, crosscutting concepts, and practices that would enable students to continuously add in the knowledge that they have acquired in the preceding years. The new curriculum will also support the incorporation of knowledge and abilities into practices required when engaging in engineering design and scientific inquiry.

There are three discrete and equally significant dimensions to studying science. These three are pooled to form standards that are used in coming up with a new curriculum (National Research Council, 2012a). Each of the mentioned dimensions works in collaboration with the other two in helping learners build a consistent understanding of science through the twelve years

Crosscutting concepts

Crosscutting concepts assist learners when exploring connections across the four domains of science. These domains are earth and space science, physical science, engineering design, and life science (Next Generation Science, 2017). The concepts, including ‘cause and effect,’ are made clear for the learners. Therefore, they develop a scientifically-based and coherent view of the world that we live in.

Science and engineering practices

Science and engineering practices give a description of what scientists are involved in when investigating natural world and how engineers design and build systems that make the life of individuals better (Next Generation Science, 2017). These practices offer a better explanation of the meaning of inquiry in the science field as well as the range of physical, social and cognitive practices required when building, deepening and applying the knowledge of crosscutting concepts and core ideas.

Disciplinary core ideas

Disciplinary core ideas are the main ideas in the study of science. They have a wide range of importance across and within the different engineering and science disciplines. Disciplinary core ideas build on each other as learners move from one grade to another. The core ideas are categorized into four domains namely earth and space science, physical science, engineering design, and life science.

Rationale and benefits of the pilot curriculum

The three dimensions adopted in the new curriculum need to be considered. The integration of natural science (earth and space sciences, life sciences, and physical sciences) along engineering and technology helps acknowledge the value of improved integration of teaching and learning of engineering and technology with science and also helps reflect on the significance of understanding the man-made world (National Research Council, 2012b).

The wide range of expectations for students articulated in the pilot curriculum is meant to enable the attainment of the vision for better science and engineering education. Students will be encouraged to be actively involved in engineering and science practices, and they would also apply the crosscutting concepts which would make them have a better understanding of the disciplinary core ideas of each field.

This pilot curriculum represents the first step in the course of coming up with better education for our students. This may be used in state-level decision-making and also provide a foundation for research that would address improvements in learning and teaching across the United States.

References

National Research Council. (2012a). A framework for K-12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. National Academies Press.

National Research Council. (2012b). Discipline-based education research: Understanding and improving learning in undergraduate science and engineering. National Academies Press.

Next Generation Science. (2017). Improving science education through three dimensional learning. Available at https://www.nextgenscience.org/

United States Census Bureau. (2015). Available at https://www.census.gov/mycd/

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