Assignment 2 -Issues Facing Curriculum Alignment
Ellen King
Dr. Carden
EDU 515: Designing Mandated and Discretionary Curricula
August 25, 2013

The S.T.R.E.A.M (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) learning environment will be an early Elementary charter school that is a learner centered, interdependent, collaborative, personalized, technology driven, diverse school which introduces a series of concepts to students with hopes of sparking interest in one of these demanding fields.
What is the philosophical basis that will affect the proposed curriculum design? Because the S.T.R.E.A.M School is a learner centered school it will be influenced heavily by the personal relevance orientation. In the personal relevance orientation, the learner’s needs tend to dominate over societal or knowledge/content. This orientation posits that the learner is in the best position to assess his or her needs and what content meets those needs. The personal relevance orientation emerges from the projects that each student selects, designs and evaluates. The project based approach enables learners to set their own objectives, direct the learning experiences needed to meet those objectives, and evaluate when those objectives have been met successfully (Chiarelott, 2006).
Examine the elements of norm-referenced and criterion-referenced testing, and determine how to apply these methods in the proposed curriculum design. Norm-referenced tests (NRT) help compare the performance of one student with the performances of a large group of students, while criterion-referenced tests (CRT) focus on "what test takers can do and what they know, not how they compare to others." Both types of test can be standardized so that scores can be interpreted the same way for all students and schools. Test content for an NRT is selected according to how well it ranks students from high achievers to low, while the content of a CRT is selected by how well it matches the learning outcomes deemed most important, or on the basis of its importance in the curriculum. Norm-referenced tests reveal student scores in regard to those that have been pre-established by a norm, or average, group of similar students who have taken the same test. One advantage of using norm-referenced tests is that they can give parents and counselors some idea of how well the student is doing compared to other students who have taken the test, which can aid in making career or college decisions (Myers, 2008). Norm Reference test can be used to place students in gifted and talented or remedial programs. Criterion-referenced tests are used to determine what students can do and what they know based on a predetermined, specific set of educational outcomes. These outcomes can be deter- mined by the instructor, school, district, or state based on the curriculum standards that are set. Criterion-referenced tests have many advantages and uses. A properly aligned criterion-referenced test can give detailed information about how well a student has performed on each educational outcome or goal included on a test. If the subject matter of the tests is properly coordinated with the content of the instruction, criterion-referenced tests can also give students, their parents and instructors more information about what exactly students have learned, which can help every- one focus on what competencies still need to be mastered and which ones have been mastered (Myers, Criterion Referenced Testing, 2008). Criterion-referenced tests can help teachers diagnose their students’ strengths and weaknesses and evaluate their program of study. Criterion-referenced tests are usually a good choice for determining whether a culturally or linguistically diverse child has a language disorder. Criterion-referenced tests can be used to evaluate a child’s performance based on a certain ability or linguistic idea, making it possible to consider the social context in which communication occurs and how language is used by the culture (Myers, Criterion Referenced Testing, 2008).
Recommend at least three ways to integrate interdisciplinary units into the proposed curriculum. Provide a rationale and support your recommendations. Interdisciplinary curriculum refers to what we do with different subjects that focus on a common topic; integration is the cognitive process of seeing patterns and connections between factual knowledge, and conceptual ideas that transfer through time, across cultures and across situations. Interdisciplinary also refers to a variety of disciplines sharing a common, conceptual focus for the topic under study (Erickson, 2008). Guidelines for creating interdisciplinary units should be established. Convey clear goals and objectives to students. Students are more likely to feel that they learned if they know what the goals and objectives are. Use a variety of topics, activities, and groupings including individual work, presentations, interviews, writing, field trips, debates, movies, and small and large group activities. Allowing the students to provide input and options for topics, projects, and groupings will give them more motivation and ownership (McDonald & Czerniak, 1994). One way to integrate interdisciplinary units would be to use webbing. With a theme in mind, webbing is a tool, particularly to developing interdisciplinary units. It allows a team of teachers to generate a variety of topics and activities related to the central theme. First you would have to identify a central theme, subject, topic or issue. Second, identify the various content domains that could be connected with the theme. Third, within each subject area, identify concepts that can be meaningfully developed and that relate to the subject and the theme. Fourth, develop a map that connects the concepts in a manner you feel will be educationally effective. The concept map will help teachers from different specializations visualize more clearly the way in which separate subjects can converge on central themes and thus connect activities, concepts and processes in a more conceptually meaningful way. Finally, develop specific activities that allow exploration of the elements you have included in your web and concept map (McDonald & Czerniak, 1994). A second way would be to accomplish interdisciplinary instruction in pre service methods courses is to have one instructor teach an "integrated" course that involves two disciplines, such as mathematics and science such as Biomathematics. Science and engineering could be combined in a course such as Biomedical Engineering. A Third way to integrate interdisciplinary units is to establish a Conceptual Lens. A conceptual lens forces the integration of thinking. Students see patterns and connections at a conceptual level as they relate the topic to the broader study framed by the lens. The Conceptual lens facilitates and requires deeper understanding and allows for the transfer of knowledge (Erickson, 2008). Rationale for Interdisciplinary units would be first, students connect science knowledge with other domains such as language, social studies and mathematics and the relevance of ideas becomes clearer as they are viewed from multiple perspectives and in greater depths. Second, students have an opportunity, first hand, to participate in many domains in a far more meaningful way. Third, the central organizing theme itself can be a useful tool for students to view and assimilate into their way of looking at the world. Fourth, interdisciplinary approaches allow students to personalize their learning by weaving together ideas from different curricular domains, encouraging flexibility of thought and examining an idea from different perspectives. Summarized research indicated that students reported learning a great deal and were eager to learn more when they experienced interdisciplinary instruction (McDonald & Czerniak, 1994). Assessing Outcomes The lesson outcome indicates what students should be able to know, do and/or feel as a result of instruction. At a unit level outcomes provide guidance for the construction of lessons within the unit as well as for pre and post assessments that will determine the extent to which students have reached outcomes. At the lesson level, lesson outcomes identify both the starting and ending point for selecting and creating learning activities (Chiarelott, 2006). Concept tests are short, informal, targeted tests that are administered during class to help instructors gauge whether students understand key concepts. The can be used to assess students’ prior knowledge, coming into a course or unit, or their understanding of content in the current course. The primary purpose of concept tests is to get a snapshot of the current understanding of the class, not of an individual student. As a result, concept tests are usually ungraded or very low stakes. They are most valuable in large classes where it is difficult to assess student understanding in real time (Carnegie Mellon, n.d.) Portfolios which are collections of student work that show teachers and others who may score portfolios the range and quality of student work over a period of time and in various content areas. Portfolios can be used formally and informally; ideally, portfolios capture the evolution of students’ ideas and can be used instructionally and as progress markers for students, teachers, and program evaluators. Portfolios represent an important alternative to multiple choice and other structured format tests; an alternative that potentially captures a richer array of what students know and can do and portrays the processes by which the work is done. They have been characterized as a powerful tool for the enhancement of instruction and assessment (Hall & Hewitt-Gervais, 2000). Exams and quizzes are commonly used to assess student learning. They also force students to process information and help prevent students from disengaging in a course. Students need to process information in one way or another to learn. In studying for exams, students read, memorize, organize information, test themselves with questions, and with varying degrees of success, and process the material for that particular section of the course.

References
Carnegie Mellon. (n.d.). Whys and Hows of Assessment. Retrieved August 25, 2013, from Eberly Center Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation: www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/assesslearning
Chiarelott, L. (2006). Curriculum in Context; Designing Curriculum and Instruction for Teaching and Learning in Context. Belmont, California: Wadswort, Cengage Learning.
Erickson, H. L. (2008). Stirring the Head, Heart and Soul (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Hall, B., & Hewitt-Gervais, C. M. (2000). The Application of Student Portfolios in Primary-Intermediate and Self-Contained Multiage Team Classroom Environments Implications for Instruction, Learning, and Assessment. Applied Measurement in Education, 13(2), 209-228.
McDonald, J., & Czerniak, C. (1994, January). Developing Interdisciplinary Units: Strategies and Examples. School Science and Mathematics, 94(1), 5-10.
Myers, S. (2008). Criterion Referenced Testing. EBSCO.
Myers, S. (2008). Norm-Reference Testing. EBSCO.