Final+Assignment

=Final Assignment: Curriculum Analysis Project=

You are going to analyze/critique your model/package according to the five categories listed below:

I. Purposes, aims, and goals II. Macro-curricular structures III. Micro-curricular structures IV. Assessment and evaluation V. Overall analysis/critique

=Assignment Overview:= Imagine that you are the instructional leader of a school, and it is your responsibility to determine whether the model/package/program you are reviewing is appropriate for your school. Further, if the model is adopted, how will the model/package/program use assessment to measure increased student achievement at your school? Finally, if you do adopt this model, how will you ensure that adequate program evaluation will take place? This is the ultimate aim of this project.

__Write a report, eight-ten pages, using the five categories above as major subheadings. Please find below some helpful suggestions on how to structure each section.__

Purposes, Aims, and Goals
Please outline the purposes, aims and goals of your program both as stated on the program's website and as implied through the website. You should write this section as a narrative for someone who is familiar with the field of education generally but has no prior knowledge of the program you are reviewing. Consider Hlebowitsh's criteria for good aims:
 * 1) Aims need to rise up from the educational situation (based on the school, its resources, and its capacities as well as what the community values)
 * 2) Aims need to be tentative and flexible – allowing room for interpretation and making modifications based upon circumstances.
 * 3) Aims create meaningful space where teachers can exercise professional judgment in a deliberate way.

First, based on these criteria, critique the aims of the program, model, or curriculum package. If you cannot identify explicit aims, then try to identify goals and aims implied by virtue of how the program is designed. Second, relate the aim/aims of your program/package/model in relation to the values and aims/ mission of your school and the community. Third, what philosophical assumptions are guiding the program/package/model? Based on what you see in the model, how did the designers see the following:


 * The nature of knowing?
 * The purpose of schooling?
 * The value of knowing?
 * The nature of the student?

To what degree do these values seem to be consistent with the values of your school and community?

Macro-curricular Elements:
How is the macro-curricular structure of your model/program/package organized?
 * By themes?
 * By skills?
 * By standards?
 * Other?

How does this organization fit with the stated purpose of the model/program/package? What is your overall assessment of the organization of the macro-curricular structure? To what degree does this organization fit with your school - its scheduling, etc.? Does the model/program/package omit critical curricular "chunks" in the macro-curricular structure? If so, what are they and what are the implications of their omission? To what degree do the macro-curricular structures support the pervasive skills sought within your program, school, and district?

Micro-Curricular Elements
Assess/critique the pervasive skills, knowledge, and dispositions/values addressed within the micro-curriculum of your package/program/model. Critique the organization of the micro-curricular elements.


 * To what degree do the micro-curricular elements provide discretionary space for teachers to exercise professional judgment? What are the implications for the presence or absence of this space.

What is missing in the micro-curricular level of your model/program/package? What is the significance of any omissions?

Assesssment and Evaluation
Here are the topics you should consider addressing in this section:

1. Tasks/procedures for evaluating student learning and program efficacy.

2. Personnel involved and their respective responsibilities.

3. Nature and collection of sources of evidence of student learning.

4. Impact of evaluation results: interpretation, reporting, utilization of evidence of learning.

5. Ways in which evaluation program will function as an integral component of curriculum development.

6. An analysis of how your evaluation program aligns with the class literature.

Overall Analysis/Critique
Here are the major topics you should attempt to address in this paper:

1. Move significantly beyond description to incorporate critique and analysis.

2. Substantively justify judgments about the program.

3. Provide examples of points in description and critique.

4. Use tables and charts **if** they will help you convey your points effectively.

5. Make meaningful, thoughtful, and well-supported recommendations regarding the use of this program including possible modifications for the program and/or the school.

6. If this is an acceptable program for the school, what sort of support will be necessary for this program to be implemented successfully?

7. How will you sustain this program over the next five years? Ten years?

This assignment should be submitted to me via EMAIL as a .doc (NOT .docx) document with the following header and assignment title:
Message Header: EPSF 7450 Final Assignment Paper Title: LastName_FirstInitial_Final Assignment