Jeremy Hanson

EDUL 636
Spring 2015
Viterbo University

Analyzing Curriculum and Assessments

I analyzed the 9th 12th grade math curriculum from Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau High
School. Full disclosure, my wife is a member of the high school math department at
Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau. The document is a shared Google Doc that can be edited by
any of the people within the math department and is shared with each of the guidance
counselors, the middle school math department, curriculum coordinator, and the high
school principal. The curriculum is introduced with the mission statement of the school
district and has a brief statement describing how math with contribute to the mission
statement. The curriculum has no specific framework other than separated by ELOs that
were derived from common core and aligned with their current math series.
The curriculum has been revised to meet common core as of the 2013-14 school year.
The common core standards were broken down in to learning targets for each grade level,
which were then placed into the appropriate classes, such as algebra 1, geometry, Algebra
2, etc. The 8th grade math team was colaborated with the algebra 1 teachers, algebra 1 and
geometry teachers collaborated, geometry and algebra 2 teachers collaborated, algebra 2
teachers and pre-calculus teachers collaborated, and finally the pre-calculus teacher
collaborated with the AP calculus/AP statistics teacher. This was done build curriculum
up from the bottom to make sure that each level builds on prior levels as well as builds
for future levels.
The curriculum dos not currently contain performance expectations that are measurable
and accurate. They are in the process of gathering evidence to review to see if the
performance expectations are appropriate and if the curriculum is reaching the intended
goal/goals.
Domains of learning and DOK are not currently covered in the curriculum. As mentioned
in the prior paragraph, they are in the process of obtaining evidence to evaluate for areas
of improvement and alignment before they move forward to this step.

Jeremy Hanson
EDUL 636
Spring 2015
Viterbo University

There is a clear scope and sequence. Each class lists prior skills and knowledge needed to
start the next level class, they call them non-negotiables such as terminology, common
steps to solve, etc. Each class is then organized into a sequential list of skills/knowledge
to be obtained throughout the course. The skills and knowledge are then placed in the
sequential order that the department has decided is appropriate. Its important to note that
this sequence does not always follow the book sequence, as they have aligned the
sequence to what they believe appropriate.
Common assessments, both formative and summative, as well as worksheets and other
supplementary materials are being developed during this school year. Each assessment,
worksheet, etc are labeled with ELOs met and the placed into a shared drive for each
teacher to access. Each month they meet and go over common assessment results and
revise the assessments to better meet the ELO/standards they are aligned with. They also
use the common assessment results as a way to revisit their worksheets and instructional
practices and plan for revision or in some cases re-teaching.
Currently the document does have an instructional calendar, Units are laid out, each unit
has a progression of skills and concepts that are taught along with references to common
formative assessments that are to be used and at what time they are to be used. This is not
a complete calendar because they are tracking what they do individually, which will be
used to create a common calendar for the amount of time that will be spent teaching
concepts and skills, etc. Each skill/concept addressed in the calendar has a reference to a
folder located within the shared Google Drive folder that contains additional resources
that all departmental members have access to. They do communicate constantly about
where they are at in their unit and teachers do try to stay in the same unit as other
teachers that are teaching the same class, however the exact number of days that each unit
is comprised of is up to the individual teacher. Other teachers will wait for the class to
catch up, but as a whole have the two day rule, wait for two days and then move on.
During the two days, teachers will give assessments to review past knowledge that is

Jeremy Hanson
EDUL 636
Spring 2015
Viterbo University
needed for the new unit and also as a time to re-teach anything they feel should be retaught that is essential to the upcoming unit. If my understanding is correct, its almost an
extended pre-test to make sure students are ready for the unit.
The strength of this curriculum appear to be the scope and sequence, they are aligned to
CCSS and the process for teaching the unit is clearly laid out. There are resources for
students that are achieving learning at a faster pace as well as resources for students that
need remedial help, again all located within a shared Google Drive folder. The resources
available to each teacher also seem to be a strength as well. Everything from the
presentation (which is the initial instruction), to daily assignments, to pre-tests, post-tests,
worksheets, formative assessments, and summative assessments are available for each
teacher to use. I believe the teachers are by far the biggest strength. An interesting side
note that I have found, is that the teachers are working on a shared google drive that all
students, regardless of age, math class they are in, or even if they are not in a math class
will have access to. They want to have it available as a resource for students to pull out
reviews of skills. They envision this as a way for students that are taking the ACT could
review skills that the student feels they need to review, or for students that have large
gaps of time between math classes can review their prior class and get a look at what they
will learn for the new class. Each of these teachers has set aside their ego and worked
together to create a completely shared and common curriculum. As a principal, I would
like to continue to support the teachers common collaborative time to keep developing
their common assessments, presentations, and worksheets.
Reflection
This assignment taught me a great deal, its the first time I have stepped outside my
teaching area to look at curriculum. I have written curriculum with a K-12 scope and
sequence for physical education and health education, but this is the first time that I
looked at curriculum that is specifically aligned to common core standards and takes state
testing into consideration when they decide what is taught. One of the struggles the staff
had was integrating a pre-algebra class into the high school level that would address

Jeremy Hanson
EDUL 636
Spring 2015
Viterbo University
student needs that arent ready for algebra 1. I thought it was a simple solution to add the
course, however its not part of the CCSS and the administration was not in favor of
adding a class that would not meet common core grade level standards, in the end they
have added the class to next years schedule. This really brought up an extremely
important point to me and that is how un-flexible common core is, or at least the
interpretation of common core is.
This entire process started out to be very overwhelming but quickly turned manageable
when I asked for help. which immediately formed a connection for me that isnt
necessarily related to this assignment. As a principal, I am going to have to ask for help,
that does not mean I am weak and it does not mean that I cannot lead, it means I need
help and for me that was a big admission. Once I got the guidance needed, it was a
relatively easy process to deconstruct the curriculum and start answering questions for
this assignment.
How would I use this as a principal? I learned how to deconstruct a curriculum that is
much more intense than the curriculum that I experience in physical education and health.
Looking at a curriculum that is tested and evaluated with assessment results is different
than looking at a curriculum that is written in grade bands K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Im not
saying that teaching physical education and health is not important, but I have a different
understanding of the pressure that core subject teachers have placed on them in regards to
their teaching practices and student performance. But I again go back to the biggest thing
I learned and that is that asking for help does not make one appear to be weak. I can still
get the job done and be an effective leader by asking for help.