Curriculum Development and Implementation

Assignment: Curriculum Inception

K-12 Curriculum Design and Development

Strayer University

Sabrina Marion

April 25th, 2021

Professor Teresa Lao

When working in an educational position, there are a variety of assessments that are often asked to be done. There is a requirement to analyze the school district’s curriculum and look at various factors surrounding the specific district. For the pilot curriculum, Richland County school district will be used to help propose a new curriculum. Richland County schools have been broken into districts due to the size of the city and areas that have been established. For research purposes, Richland County school district I will hold the basis of the assignment.

Richland school district I has over twenty schools under that one specific district ranging from grade-school, middle school, and high school. With being under the one specific district, there are learning tools and programs that have been assigned in order to teach the students. Due to the large number of schools, there will be one specifically chosen to help review the curriculum and follow the expectations of the outline.

Eau Claire High school is in the center of Columbia South Carolina. Within this high school, the location is determined by varying individuals. Based on the research, minority enrollment of the school has a percentage of 99% African American students. This number seems to be high than most students in the state of South Carolina according to (Richland Country School District, 2020). It also shows that 1.9% of the students are Caucasian and 12.1% identify as other races within the school. Based on the information provided, it does bring adequate information into understanding the school and their platform for students involved. With the percentage of demographics, does it seem that the school would cater to those who have the higher percentage, or all students are treated in an equal manner?

As noted, the highest percentage of students are African American and with this known information, it leaves those who are analyzing the school wonder about cultural influences. The stakes are high when determining if the students are being influenced by others, but it also helps to ask the question, are there cultural influences by both African Americans, Caucasians, and those who may identify as another racial background. In doing in-depth research, there was no information provided on the cultural influences of Eau Claire High School and the programs being offered has been identified as the “Beta Club” which is a known program at schools across the country. Significantly, it seems that all students from racial backgrounds can participate in the program.

In some instance, it does seem that with the number of African American students, their culture can play into an important aspect of other students. However, the numbers do not technically identify in this type of scenario due to the number of Caucasian and other racial students. Eau Claire prides themselves on diversity which is a clear indication that they create platforms for the students. One of the main aspects would also be celebrating Black History Month and recently St. Patrick’s Day. By bringing the important dates and times into play, this does point in the direction of cultures and appreciation for cultures.

Pilot Curriculum

The pilot curriculum will be developed for students in high school grades 9th-12th. The discipline that will be used is English Language Arts. English is a subject that students sometimes struggle with along with math, but the identifying focus and emphasis will be directed towards English Students. We would like to use this pilot programs for students who are enrolled in Honors English Classes. With the curriculum being designed, students will be able to have an emphasis on their writing and prepare themselves for college classes that require APA format and MLA format. Just recently APA 7th edition is being used at some institutions. Along with the curriculum, students will have the chance to create their own specific writing standards to help them improve on their writing abilities throughout the school year.

There are specific areas in the pilot curriculum that students can focus on. By using the pilot curriculum students will benefit in various ways. The top three benefits would consist of the following:

· Development of writing abilities in functions outside of the regular standard writing programs. The benefit would allow students to determine and focus on their skills depending on their collegiate program. For those who may not attend college, they are still provided the same skills that will help them in their entrepreneur skills as well. To understand the dynamics, students will also benefit in a free writing program at a college where they are able to learn the history of writing and English.

· Students will be able to apply critical thinking skills that would benefit them in future endeavors. Critical thinking does not just apply to writing but also takes a focus on the real world outside of the educational classrooms. We want students to take away the entire analytical performance that is designed within the curriculum and the study of Ebonics as well. They will also benefit from being able to understand the various forms of writing and the extent of the circumstances.

· Students will be able to understand proper citations when writing. The benefits of using the proper citations will also add value and understand the correlating writing context. The scholastic idea of writing will also help them see the focus on writing as well.

One of the ones that we want to help students identify and learn would come from using non-cognitive skills as well. This will help improve the students learning by identifying with the students and using complexes to further their research and investigations associated with the dynamics of English. Using this skill will also help to improve who they are to develop their learning outline (Sosa, 2019).

Instructional Goals

There are benefits and there is also instructional goals that are applied during the pilot curriculum designed for students. The instructional goals that have been prefaced includes the following:

· Communication particularly used in order to fully process the information and designs associated with the program. The instructional goal of communication helps to focus on their writing and develop the skill to write from the research and not place the words in their head directly to the paper.

· Being able to assess the instructions and create short-term and long-term goals for the students during their instructional learning process. Creating short-term and long-terms will help their focus and produce their specific learning strategies associated with the classroom.

· The last instructional goal that will be a focus on results or outcomes and not the directed process. Being able to teach and lecture is a good step in the process, but it is not always the purpose of the instruction. As a facilitator, students will be able to take their goals and market their value in the full functionality of learning and design.

References Mirra, N. (2020). A Quality of Imagination: Young People Show Us" What's Next" in ELA. Voices From the Middle, 27(4), 9-11. Richland Country School District. (2020). Demographic Report. Columbia: RichlandOne. Sosa, T. &. (2019). How Students Use Their Cultural and Linguistic Knowledge to Transform Literacy Goals. . The High School Journal, 210-227.