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Aligning and Balancing the Standards-Based Curriculum
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Aligning and Balancing the Standards-Based Curriculum

  • David A. Squires - Southern Connecticut State University, USA, ABC Education Consultants LLC, Branford, CT

Foreword by Fenwick W. English



November 2004 | 344 pages | Corwin
`A coherent approach to curriculum, instruction, and assessment in the age of standards-driven education…. It will be an excellent contribution' - H Lynn Erickson, Author, Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction (Corwin Press 2002)

`The book builds a bridge of confidence that will convince readers both of the ideas and their own ability to succeed' - David W Champagne, Professor Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh

`A wonderful and thorough explanation of the Balanced Curriculum' - Michelle Barnea, Educational Consultant, Milburn, New Jersey

The book offers a comprehensive collection of curriculum mapping and assessment tools, including sample lessons, rubrics, planning guides, state-specific examples of implementation; and screen shots from the online database, all illustrating the balanced curriculum process in action.

Fenwick W. English
Foreword
 
Preface
 
About the Author
 
About the Balanced Curriculum Web Site
 
Introduction
 
Section I. Curriculum Tools and Concepts: Textbooks, Standards, Alignment, and Standardized Testing
 
1. Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment, and Standards
 
2. Textbooks: What the Research Says
 
3. Understanding and Using National, State, and Local Frameworks and Standards
 
4. The Importance of Aligning Curriculum
 
5. The Conundrum of Standardized Testing
 
Section II. The Design of the Balanced Curriculum
 
6. Curriculum Structure and Criteria for a Useful and Useable Curriculum
 
7. The Balanced Curriculum Process
 
8. Setting Up the Curriculum Writing Process
 
9. Defining the Components of a Good Program
 
10. Reviewing Standards, Sequencing Courses, Describing Units, and Delineating Unit Timelines
 
11. Other Standards for Alignment and Balance
 
12. Generating and Validating Significant Tasks
 
13. Aligning the Balanced Curriculum With Standards and Assessments
 
14. Balancing the Aligned Curriculum
 
15. Constructing Content Assessments
 
16. Constructing Format Assessments
 
Section III. Staff Development for and Results of the Balanced Curriculum
 
17. Introducing the Balanced Curriculum Process in a District
 
18. Staff Development to Promote Curriculum Implementation
Philomena T. Pezzano
19. The Superintendent's Role
 
20. The Results So Far: Fifteen Years of Data From Urban, Suburban, and Rural Schools
 
Bibliography
 
Index

"A coherent approach to curriculum, instruction, and assessment in the age of standards-driven education. It will be an excellent contribution."

H. Lynn Erickson
Author, Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction

"I’m happy with the Balanced Curriculum process, my Board is happy, and my students are benefiting from it."

Philomena T. Pezzano, District Superintendent
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey Public Schools

"The book builds a bridge of confidence that will convince readers of both the ideas and of their own ability to succeed."

David W. Champagne, Professor Emeritus
University of Pittsburgh

"A wonderful and thorough explanation of the Balanced Curriculum."

Michelle Barnea, Educational Consultant
Milburn, New Jersey

"The work that Dr. Squires has done in moving the curriculum development process onto the Web has removed some of the tedium involved in crafting curriculum, making it ‘user friendly’ and open to the kinds of ongoing changes that make the promise of continual renewal of curriculum a reality."

From the Foreword by Fenwick W. English, R. Wendell Eaves Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hills