2045.4.1 : Designing, Evaluating, and Improving Curricula
The graduate evaluates curricula and recommends improvements that will ensure academic and non-academic programs are high-quality, technology-rich, and coherent.
You must complete and pass this task before beginning Tasks 2 and 3.
Part of being an effective school leader is ensuring the programs of study are coherent and prepare students for success. You will lead the school’s efforts in developing, implementing, and evaluating curricula, instructional practices, and assessments.
Over the three tasks for this assessment, you will use eight of the nine steps of curricular evaluation. For this task, Task 1, you will complete the first two steps of the curricular evaluation process for programs of study: establish project parameters and orient for mastery. Task 2 and Task 3 will cover the remaining steps.
The documents in the attachments section compose a rich case study similar to the type of information you would have access to as a principal when conducting a curriculum evaluation. You may not need to use each of these attachments in every task, although some attachments are required for this task. However, collectively, the attachments will give you a broad scenario to analyze, and individually, the attachments will help inform thoughtful responses to real-world situations.
You are the principal of West Oak Cove Elementary School. You have been asked by district leadership to evaluate the curricula, instructional practices, and assessments for the school math program over the next school year as part of a district program evaluation. You are currently focusing on the fourth-grade math curriculum based on the Illinois Common Core State Standards.
Your submission must be your original work. No more than a combined total of 30% of a submission and no more than a 10% match to any one individual source can be directly quoted or closely paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly. An originality report is provided when you submit your task that can be used as a guide.
You must use the rubric to direct the creation of your submission because it provides detailed criteria that will be used to evaluate your work. Each requirement below may be evaluated by more than one rubric aspect. The rubric aspect titles may contain hyperlinks to relevant portions of the course.
Tasks may not be submitted as cloud links, such as links to Google Docs, Google Slides, OneDrive, etc., unless specified in the task requirements. All other submissions must be file types that are uploaded and submitted as attachments (e.g., .docx, .pdf, .ppt).
A. Discuss the project parameters for the curriculum evaluation process by doing the following:
1. Identify key factors for student subgroups that indicate a need for a curriculum evaluation, using the data in the attached “Curriculum Guide Excerpt,” “Curriculum Map,” “Needs Assessment,” and “School Report Card.” Justify how the factors support the need for the curriculum evaluation process to continue.
2. Identify key stakeholder groups you would include in the curriculum development team (CDT) and their respective roles. Justify their inclusion and roles in the curriculum evaluation process.
B. Discuss the plan to orient faculty and staff who will be affected by the potential changes caused by the curriculum evaluation process by doing the following:
1. Identify staff who will participate in the curriculum evaluation orientation and their respective roles. Justify their inclusion and roles in the curriculum evaluation orientation.
2. Explain the concepts and processes you would include in the curriculum evaluation orientation that would effectively orient the staff members identified in part B1 to the curriculum evaluation process discussed in part A.
C. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
D. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.
File size limit: 200 MB
File types allowed: doc, docx, rtf, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, odt, pdf, txt, qt, mov, mpg, avi, mp3, wav, mp4, wma, flv, asf, mpeg, wmv, m4v, svg, tif, tiff, jpeg, jpg, gif, png, zip, rar, tar, 7z
|
NOT EVIDENT The submission demonstrates consistently unprofessional or unethical behavior or disposition as outlined in the WGU Teachers College Code of Ethics. |
APPROACHING COMPETENCE The submission demonstrates behavior or disposition that conflicts with the professional and ethical standards outlined in the WGU Teachers College Code of Ethics. |
COMPETENT The submission demonstrates behavior and disposition that align with the professional and ethical standards outlined in the WGU Teachers College Code of Ethics. |
|
NOT EVIDENT The submission does not identify key factors for student subgroups, or the identified factors do not indicate a need for curriculum evaluation. Or no justification is provided. |
APPROACHING COMPETENCE The submission does not plausibly justify how the identified key factors for student subgroups support the need for the curriculum evaluation process to continue, or the submission does not include evidence from each given attachment. |
COMPETENT The submission plausibly justifies how the identified key factors for student subgroups support the need for the curriculum evaluation process to continue, including evidence from the given attachments. |
|
NOT EVIDENT Key stakeholder groups for the curriculum development team are not identified, or the respective role for any identified stakeholder group is not provided. Or a justification for the inclusion of any of the stakeholder groups in the curriculum development team or the role of any of the stakeholder groups in the curriculum evaluation process is not provided. |
APPROACHING COMPETENCE The justification for the inclusion of identified key stakeholder groups in the CDT lacks relevant support or excludes details of how the groups will contribute to the process and fulfill the role identified. |
COMPETENT The justification for the inclusion of identified key stakeholder groups in the CDT includes relevant support, detailing how the groups will contribute to the process and fulfill the role identified. |
|
NOT EVIDENT Staff who will participate in the curriculum evaluation orientation are not identified, or the respective role for any identified staff is not provided. Or a justification for the inclusion or role of staff in the curriculum evaluation orientation is not provided. |
APPROACHING COMPETENCE The justification for the inclusion of identified staff in the curriculum evaluation orientation lacks relevant support or excludes details of how the staff will contribute to the process and fulfill the role identified. |
COMPETENT The justification for the inclusion of identified staff in the curriculum evaluation orientation includes relevant support, detailing how staff will contribute to the process and fulfill the role identified. |
|
NOT EVIDENT An explanation is not provided, or the explanation does not provide concepts or processes to be addressed in the curriculum evaluation orientation. |
APPROACHING COMPETENCE The explanation addresses concepts and processes that the candidate would include in the curriculum evaluation orientation, but they are irrelevant, or they would not effectively orient the staff members identified in part B1 to the curriculum evaluation process discussed in part A. |
COMPETENT The explanation addresses relevant concepts and processes that the candidate would include in the curriculum evaluation orientation that would effectively orient the staff members identified in part B1 to the curriculum evaluation process discussed in part A. |
|
NOT EVIDENT The submission does not include both in-text citations and a reference list for sources that are quoted, paraphrased, or summarized. |
APPROACHING COMPETENCE The submission includes in-text citations for sources that are quoted, paraphrased, or summarized and a reference list; however, the citations or reference list is incomplete or inaccurate. |
COMPETENT The submission includes in-text citations for sources that are properly quoted, paraphrased, or summarized and a reference list that accurately identifies the author, date, title, and source location as available. |
|
NOT EVIDENT Content is unstructured, is disjointed, or contains pervasive errors in mechanics, usage, or grammar. Vocabulary or tone is unprofessional or distracts from the topic. |
APPROACHING COMPETENCE Content is poorly organized, is difficult to follow, or contains errors in mechanics, usage, or grammar that cause confusion. Terminology is misused or ineffective. |
COMPETENT Content reflects attention to detail, is organized, and focuses on the main ideas as prescribed in the task or chosen by the candidate. Terminology is pertinent, is used correctly, and effectively conveys the intended meaning. Mechanics, usage, and grammar promote accurate interpretation and understanding. |