Critique

Running head: CURRICULUM CRITIQUE 1

Curriculum Plan Critique 1

EDUC 872 Research in Curriculum Design and Development

Curriculum Plan Critique 1

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CURRICULUM CRITIQUE 2

Curriculums should be aligned to a set of standards to ensure students are receiving an

education that is equitable and multifaceted. Each state has their own unique set of standards that

they require educators to implement. These standards can range from Common Core to

Standards of Learning. The importance of developing a curriculum that is aligned to state

standards was emphasized in chapter two of Ensuring High-Quality Curriculum. Lalor (2016)

described how to evaluate a curriculum that is aligned to state standards and detailed the degrees

of alignment.

Summary

The focal point of chapter two, Alignment to Standards, can be summarized with two key

points; degree of alignment and communication of standards being taught. To see if a curriculum

is aligned to standards, it is important to first focus on the degree of alignment and second on the

communication of standards being taught. Degrees of alignment can be categorized in three

categories. The alignment to standards can be viewed as weak, moderate, and strong. To figure

out which degree of alignment a curriculum falls under it is suggested to use a scale to the degree

of alignment between task and standards (Lalor, 2016).

Lalor (2016) describes the differences between strong, moderate, and weak alignment.

Strong alignment entails the task is clearly aligned to the standard and the task addresses all parts

and honors the intent of the standard. Moderate alignment is present when the standard is being

addressed, but is not the primary focus of the lesson. Weak alignment involves the standard

occurring, but is not guaranteed to be part of the task (p. 26-27). Clearly, it is imperative to use

the degrees of alignment scale suggested by the author. This scale is a great tool to use to analyze

lessons and content to ensure there is a strong alignment of standards.

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CURRICULUM CRITIQUE 3

Communication of standards being taught and assessed is an important area to review

when assessing or designing a curriculum. High-quality curriculums will include only the

standards that are to be taught and assessed by educators. It is important when examining

published curriculums and instructional materials to seek content that is aligned strongly with the

standards. This can be done by utilizing the degree of alignment scale. Understanding how to use

the degrees of alignment will provide students with engaging and meaningful learning (Lalor,

2016).

Compare

The reading-vocabulary curriculum plan is focused on standards 6.4, 7.4, and 8.4. These

standards require students to be able to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases

within a text. The material being used to teach these standards is Lincoln’s “The Gettysburg

Address.” Students will practice the skill of understanding connotation by reading the text and

going through to identify words that may have a negative and positive connotation. When

comparing the curriculum plan and the standard it is apparent that the curriculum plan is strongly

aligned with the standard. This is apparent by the assignment and the standard being almost one

and the same (Lalor, 2016).

Contrast

When reviewing the curriculum plan and required reading it is evident there are some

differences between the two. The required reading focused on the “how” to create a task that has

strong alignment while the curriculum plan focused on “how” to teach students positive and

negative connotations. Both the chapter and curriculum plan were focused on different aspects of

learning. The chapter highlighted how to create effective tasks that are aligned with the state

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CURRICULUM CRITIQUE 4

standards. While the curriculum plan is implementing what was discussed in the chapter. The

required reading is the “before” and the curriculum plan is the “after” (Lalor, 2016).

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CURRICULUM CRITIQUE 5

Reference

Lalor, A. D. M. (2016). Ensuring high-quality curriculum: How to design, revise, or adopt

curriculum aligned to student success. ASCD.

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