C&T 802: CULMINATING PAPER – CURRICULUM PLAN FOR JAYHAWKVILLE 1

Culminating Plan for Jayhawkville

Adam M. Vorrie

University of Kansas
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Overview of Approach to Curriculum Planning

To best serve the needs of our students, now and in the future, the Jayhawkville Unified

School District has undertaken the process of creating and implementing a standards-based

curriculum which reflects current reforms as recommended in the Common Core State Standards

(CCSS).

To formulate and eventually implement our curriculum plan, it is important that everyone

involved in the process is aware of our common goals and act with fidelity in our actions. We

understand that change will be difficult but will be guided by taking an approach that is goal-

centered and based on evidence. Keeping a focus on our common goals will aid in the decision-

making process as we can better establish standards to determine which actions, resources, and

training will help us achieve the outcomes we hope to achieve.

Research in this area has demonstrated that there is no uniform method of curriculum

design that can be carried out in any school district, but there are common elements that should

be considered in any setting: what we choose to emphasize, the complexity of changes,

engagement between district leadership, school administrators, and teachers, and the support

provided once the process is underway (Weinbaum, E. H., & Supovitz, J. A., 2010). Taking this

into consideration, our plan will include a variety of committees and leadership roles to complete

the necessary work ahead.

Aligning our curriculum to match the CCSS recommendations will provide our students

with an increased opportunity to be successful immediately after high school whether they

choose college or a career. According to findings from a research study, a student who

demonstrates proficiency in Common Core State Standards will likely be ready for many
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college-level courses. Additionally, it was found that the more standards that they demonstrated

proficiency in, the wider range of post-secondary courses they were prepared for (Conley,

Drummond, Gonzalez, Rooseboom, & Stout, 2010).

Context of Approach to Curriculum Planning

Our school district values the diverse community we are a part of and want to ensure we

are responsive to the needs of all our learners. We also recognize that despite our efforts to base

our work on best practices and research, we have fallen out of date in aligning with the

recommendations of the CCSS. To best address our needs and goals, it is imperative we identify

where we can improve and select an approach to curriculum that aligns with current state

standards.

Context of Jayhawkville Unified School District

Upon reflection and analysis of the CCSS, it has been determined that social studies will

be the current focus of study. An analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

to the district revealed several key findings which need to be considered when planning reforms

to be implemented. The district is very diverse in its community and student populations. This

provides both strengths and challenges as the students will benefit from being exposed to others

from a variety of backgrounds but presents challenges to the school in providing resources to

ensure all students have an equal opportunity to learn. For example, several schools in the district

displayed weaknesses in educating ELL students which needs to be addressed with new staff,

resources, or training. This will require an extra financial burden that could take money away

from other areas of need, such as professional development or desired curriculum reforms.

The instructional practices emphasized by the district are a strength in implementing the

desired curricular changes, as instructional practices are required to be based on research and the
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use of data. While their current instructional practices have fallen out of date with the

recommendations of the CCSS, teachers are at least already in the habit of utilizing research-

based instructional strategies. Examining current ELA data in the district displays a need to

improve in the area of literacy, which would negatively affect social studies performance as

skills needed to be successful in both fields are similar.

Finally, the overview for the office of curriculum and instruction at Jayhawkville states

that their goal is to “provide assured opportunities for students to grow in content as well as the

capacities of communication, critical, creative, and global thinking skills.” (“Office of

Curriculum & Instruction: Overview”).

Recommendations for program reforms must be considerate of this goal as well as the

needs displayed in the analysis of the school district.

Social Studies Program Reforms at Jayhawkville

Considering the context of the school district and its need to enact the reforms

recommended by the CCSS, I propose that the C3 Framework (College, Career, & Civic Life for

Social Studies State Standards) be used to guide curriculum planning for the field of social

studies within the district.

The C3 Framework meets several of the needs of our district. First, its stated purpose

includes building “critical thinking, problem solving, and participatory skills to become engaged

citizens” as well as aligning “academic programs to the Common Core State Standards for

English Language Arts and Literacy in History / Social Studies.” (“College, Career, and Civic

Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards”, 2017). Secondly, its guiding principles

seek to prepare the nation’s young people for college, careers, and civic life, focuses on skills
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and practices, and emphasizes explicit connections to CCSS ELA standards. Lastly, the authors

of the C3 Framework also point out that fewer and fewer students of color and students in

poverty are receiving high quality social studies education. A study, which examined the lack of

student interest and capacities in social studies, found that students were provided with unequal

access to opportunities such as civically oriented government classes, discussions of current

events, or having a voice in their school and classroom (Kahne & Middaugh, 2008). Considering

the context of our district, we want to ensure that all students are fully prepared to participate in

our democratic institutions.

One potential argument against implementing such a framework is the negative effect it

could have on social studies test scores on state-mandated exams. Ultimately, assessments do

factor into decision making as they play a role in the perception of our school system. To assuage

concerns that such a pedagogical switch would harm our success in academic measurements, it is

important to highlight the findings of John Saye and the Social Studies Inquiry Research

Collaborative (SSIRC) on authentic pedagogy in social studies. Their research discovered that

there is a severe lack of authentic social studies learning, with 21% of students sampled having

been found to meet standards of moderately challenging teaching (Saye & Col., 2013).

Furthermore, they found that oftentimes, social studies instruction revolved around “superficial

coverage of large bodies of content” (Saye & Col., 2013). The common reasoning for teaching

this way was to increase the likelihood of success of state exams. Their findings show that not

only is more authentic, inquiry-based learning like that proposed by the C3 Framework

beneficial for intellectual reasons, but that it actually increases student performance on state

exams (Saye & Col., 2013).

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Process for Curriculum Planning

Improving the social studies field K-12 is our focus at this particular time, so it is

important to plan ahead which staff and community members may play an important role in this

area and oversight of this committee. Following that, a list of important steps and a timeframe for

completion will need to be established.

Who Will Be Involved?

For the committees and advisory groups that will be necessary to carry out the large task

of improving the field, it is crucial to involve stakeholders both inside and outside of the school.

Specific groups that should be represented include the superintendent and curriculum directors,

building principals, teachers, parents, community members, and students.

School representatives at the district and building level need to establish structures that

will build capacity for successful implementation of the proposed curriculum. The district,

buildings, and social studies teachers not only need the resources that to assist instruction, but

they need to develop the ability to “effectively use those resources to engage students and deepen

learning.” (Jaquith, 2012)

Members of the community who are outside of the educational profession can provide

valuable insight into current trends in career readiness, as well as suggest curriculum inclusions

that reflect local goals. They also play a role in increasing cultural awareness for the school

district, as they may possess insight into the community that school personnel do not have. In his

commentary on the subject, Phillip C. Schlecty warns that a narrow agenda of schools, focused

only students “getting the right answers” fails to create the knowledgeable citizenry necessary

for the success of our democracy (Schlecty, 2011).

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The Structure of Committees and Advisory Groups

Representatives from all areas described above would form a district curriculum advisory

council for the purposes of reviewing curriculum proposals and evaluating the progress of the

plan. Each school would have their own advisory council selected by the principal from staff

nominations. It will include social studies teachers, ELA teachers, staff working with struggling

learners such as ELL or special education, and parents.

A specific task force to be the directors of the improvement project would be led by Dr.

Mildred Parks and Dr. Monica Byrd. Dr. Parks brings a background in academic leadership and

Dr. Byrd helps ensure appropriate considerations are made for the success of all students, no

matter their background. We also recommend Principal Nellie Herrera for the team based on her

background in social studies and record of success with a variety of student backgrounds. Other

members of the committee would include our social studies department chair, nominated

teachers, and at least one parent.

Tasks and Timeline for the Curriculum Planning Process

Several key steps need to be taken by both advisory committees and the project task force

to make this proposed curriculum change a reality. We have already established that we will

focus on improving the field of K-12 social studies in the district by adopting the

recommendations of the C3 Framework to help our students become more college and career

ready.

In the first month, the affected staff need to be brought into the process in order to

achieve buy in. The district curriculum advisory council will be responsible for presenting a

summary of the proposed project and explanation of expected outcomes. The project task force
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will be responsible for surveying teachers regarding current readiness levels for standards set

forth in the C3 Framework.

During the second month, the task force will prepare surveys in order to begin

development of a curriculum map. The surveys will be given to all subject area teachers to

establish what the current taught curricula is, compared to the desired curricula. This will be

crucial during the alignment process as we want to ensure mastery goals are distributed in a

manner that makes sense across the curriculum and avoid unnecessary repetitiveness.

The third month will see the task force revise the scope and sequence of the map they

have developed, searching for areas of deficiency or excess. This will be shared with all

curriculum advisory councils at the end for input since they will have a better idea of individual

school or community needs. Further surveys should be developed by the task force to assess

current student strengths and weaknesses to be administered by the building level administrators

and staff. All input and feedback will then be evaluated by the task force for any amendments

they would like to make to the curriculum map.

Months four, five, and six of the curriculum planning process will be devoted to the

development of a curriculum guide by the task force. During this timeframe, mastery objectives

will be written from the C3 Framework and curriculum map, which will then be followed by the

search for and development of resources and activities which will cause learning to happen.

Additionally, at the end of this time frame, grade-level team teachers will develop and submit a

unit planning proposal rough draft for the year. This will help generate a better understanding of

the time allocated for this project as well as providing a level of accountability for its
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implementation. At the beginning of every new unit, teachers will submit unit proposals to

building level principals.

In the seventh and eighth months, assessments will be selected and developed to measure

the growth of students towards achieving are intended goals. We are hopeful that the recent

growth in the test creation industry will produce an assessment that will accurately measure the

learned curricula from the C3 Framework (Saye, J., & Col, S. S., 2013). If not, we will need the

task force to allocate time and resources to develop valid common assessments or bring in an

outside consultant with expertise in assessment.

Months nine and ten will consist of assessment and selection of potential instructional

materials. Thanks to the connectivity of networked teachers and instructional experts, there are a

variety of materials available designed specifically for the C3 Framework on their online

database. To ensure that materials meet the criteria which we feel will best align with the

standards, we will use the EQuIP rubrics to evaluate potential materials and modify them if

necessary.

The final two months of year one of the process will be devoted to planning professional

development opportunities. Since not all teachers are going to be involved, we will not arrange

changes to the schedule. Instead, we propose that pairs of teachers be sent to conferences and

other trainings. Additionally, it would be beneficial to utilize substitute teachers to allow staff to

observe each other and reflect at the end. Finally, part of professional development time should

be spent both working as a social studies department to write common assessments and share

instructional materials, as well as collaborative time with ELA instructors to share strategies in

literacy.
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For all the planning that go into this, it could potentially fail or lead to a waste of time

and resources if all stakeholders are not on board. Success and buy in will only be achieved if we

work as a school to ensure everyone involved “speaks the same language” regarding alignment

to the CCSS, C3 Framework, and all of the curriculum plans that accompany it. In her article,

Principal Lucille McAssey addresses the importance of involving all stakeholders and provides a

recommended course of action we should adopt. First, as proposed earlier, staff should be

introduced to the recent changes up front. Secondly, students should be introduced by having

rubrics to assess their own learning. This not only helps to familiarize them with what they are to

know, but also helps them develop a deeper understanding of their learning instead of just their

grade. Finally, a task force of teachers and administrators should be assigned to important duty

of preparing a form of communication with the community to help them the goals and purpose

behind the curriculum plan (McAssey, 2014).

Products of the Curriculum Planning Process

Many of the crucial documents that would be produced to communicate the plan for

stakeholders were discussed in the tasks above, however, further detail will be provided

justifying their creation.

An overview of the stated goals of the C3 Framework and plan for implementation

should be prepared at the beginning for both educational officials and for community members

with an interest in the school. Building capacity and support is necessary to ensure success, and

neither group wants to have their time or resources wasted on something they do not see the

value in.
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Surveys will need to be generated for several purposes. All of them are for the planning

process, both to discover current gaps, current practices, and current readiness of students for

such tasks. These surveys will help in the development of the curriculum map. This will guide

our planning and inform our decision making by allowing us to vertically align the curriculum

while being fully aware the amount and kind of standard in each grade level. The culminating

step of this process is to develop curricular guides which offer teachers instructional strategies,

recommendations, and assessments to successfully carry out the new curriculum plan.

Teachers will eventually submit a year-long unit plan that is a rough draft of predicted

amount of time, strategies, and assessments that will be utilized throughout the year. This will

help teachers and administrators plan for potential challenges or needs to can be addressed early

on. When units of instruction are close to beginning, teachers will submit to their building

principal’s final drafts of individual unit plans for the purposes of accountability and

collaboration with other schools in the district.

Finally, common assessments for both formative and summative feedback will be

developed. To accurately measure the effectiveness of our plan, we would prefer valid, uniform

assessments across the district.

Plan for Ongoing Improvement of the Curriculum

While much of the planning and work will be completed in the first year, improving

instructional practices and evaluation the effectiveness of the program are continual goals that

will span many years beyond the first.

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Professional Development Program for Teachers

We want our social studies teachers who will be responsible for carrying out this

curricular change to continue to embrace the current practices of being data-driven and utilizing

research. A community-based learning model, including PLCs, will best allow our teachers to

continue that work. This will provide the flexibility necessary to continue improvement in

executing and assessing this curriculum plan, while not taking time away from other subject

areas. The task force discussed earlier will play a central role along with building principals in

shaping the direction, culture, and practices necessary for PLCs to be successful. Teachers being

willing to be open and vulnerable to failure or struggles when trying new things is a necessity.

Ongoing professional development opportunities are offered through the C3 Framework website

and teachers will explore it while design their own professional development plan for self-

improvement. These plans are to be signed off on by building administrators with guidance from

the task force implementing the framework to provide a level of accountability for improvement.

Data to be Collected

While we currently do not know for certain which assessments will be chosen by the

committees, it is recommended that student data demonstrating students’ abilities to carry out the

skills proposed by the C3 Framework be collected, as opposed to traditional high-stakes tests for

the subject which usually collect information on content knowledge.

Use of the Data

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The data will be sorted for the purposes of providing scaffolding and interventions to

support student learning. Additionally, student data will be collected, sorted, and analyzed by

grade level teachers and members of the task force to measure the success of teachers in carrying

out the instructional recommendations provided for in the curriculum guides and to determine

whether or not the C3 Framework is improving our weaknesses identified in the initial needs

assessment. This data can be used to make program recommendations to the advisory councils or

project task force.

Conclusion

Successful curriculum planning requires knowledgeable leadership, strong

communication skills, and an analytic mind. Knowledgeable leadership is necessary to identify

current areas of weakness in your school’s program of studies. Improvements and reforms should

have a purpose instead of being implemented because they are the new fads in education.

Leadership needs to be critical of all ideas and ask whether or not those that are suggested help to

achieve the school’s goals or mission. Strong communication skills are invaluable because of the

importance of the support of all stakeholders for curriculum change. Logic suggests people will

be more likely to support something if they understand its purpose and utility. An analytic mind

has value because it provides the leadership with the skills necessary to undertake the

foundational planning necessary for the success of a curriculum change and improvement. Much

work needs to be done before large numbers of educational staff are involved to build support

and ensure resources and time are utilized in an efficient and responsible manner.

Planning and implementing high-quality, standards-based curriculum will require schools

to be more research-oriented and data-driven than before. Schools will need to consider changes
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from traditional educational policies and be willing to discuss the elimination of long held

stances that no longer fit with new ways of thinking, For example, if we measure students’

learning by expecting them to achieve mastery level understanding on a set of standards, should

we allow them to retake assessments as many times as necessary to demonstrate mastery? Do

letter grades and points communicate information that parents need to know regarding their

child’s understanding of state standards. Many schools need to improve their ability to analyze

and sort data to intervene on behalf of children who demonstrate learning needs. Lastly, schools,

school leaders, and teachers must be willing to commit significant time to professional learning

to identify needs they may not know they have and be willing to be vulnerable and open to

collaborative feedback in order to improve.

References

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards. (2017, June
11). Retrieved October 12, 2017, from https://www.socialstudies.org/c3

Conley, D. T., Drummond, K. V., Gonzalez, A. D., Rooseboom, J., & Stout, O. (2010). Reaching
the Goal: The Applicability and Importance of the Common Core State Standards to
College and Career Readiness(Rep.). Retrieved October 13, 2017, from Educational
Policy Improvement Center website: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED537872.pdf (ERIC
Document Reproduction Service No. ED537872)

Jaquith, A. (2012). Instructional Capacity: How to Build it Right. Educational Leadership,71(2),

56-61. Retrieved October 13, 2017, from http://www.edugains.ca/resources
PLC/PLF/2014_Module/HO1-InstCapacity_Oct2013EdLdrship.pdf

Kahne, J., & Middaugh, E. (2008). High Quality Civic Education: What Is It and Who Gets
It? Social Education,72(1), 34-39. Retrieved October 12, 2017, from
http://www.civicsurvey.org/sites/default/files/publications/High%20Quality%20
Civ%20Ed%20article.pdf

McAssey, L. (2014). Common Core Assessments: A Principal's View. Principal,Jan. /

Feb.Retrieved October 13, 2017, from https://www.naesp.org/principal-januaryfebruary-
2014-assessments-evaluations-and-data/common-core-assessments-principal-s-.
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Office of Curriculum and Instruction: Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2017, from
https://kuconnect.ku.edu/courses/1082/external_tools/883

Saye, J., & Col, S. S. (2013). Authentic Pedagogy: Its Presence in Social Studies Classrooms and
Relationship to Student Performance on State-Mandated Tests. Theory & Research in
Social Education,41(1), 89-132. doi:10.1080/00933104.2013.756785

Schlecty, P. C. (2011). Commentary: The Threat of Accountabalism. Educational

Leadership,69(1), 80-81. Retrieved October 13, 2017, from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept11/vol69/num01/The-Threat
-of-Accountabalism.aspx

Weinbaum, E. H., & Supovitz, J. A. (2010). Planning Ahead: Make Program Implementation
More Predictable. Phi Delta Kappan,91(7), 68-71. doi:10.1177/003172171009100714