The amount and depth of information that a teacher is expected to teach in one school year is astounding. Not only is it almost impossible for the students to learn all of a state's curriculum, it is difficult for a teacher to merely cover the information in the given time frame. In addition to the requirement of exposing the students to such a large amount of information, teachers are also expected to ensure student performance on standardized tests. Prioritizing the curriculum is a critical instructional strategy for teachers and students to be successful.
How to Prioritize the Curriculum
- The Essential Curriculum - content standards that are foundational to the concepts and skills of the subject. Seventy-five percent of class time should be used in mastering the essentials.
- The Important Curriculum - content standards that support the essentials and link knowledge and skills to other content areas or subjects. Twenty percent of class time should be used in teaching the important curriculum.
- The Compacted Curriculum - content standards that are not foundational to the concepts and generally contain minor details. The standards are not viewed as prerequisites to other curriculum. Ten percent of class time should be used in exposing students to the compacted curriculum.
Teaching Curriculum Misconceptions
- Textbooks drive the curriculum and instruction in the classroom.
- The curriculum from the past is sufficient for teaching students today.
- Defining vocabulary results in knowledge and understanding.
- Acquiring content knowledge is the goal of education.
A Correct Understanding of Teaching Curriculum
- Essential standards drive the curriculum and instruction. Textbooks should be used as one of many resources in supporting the learning process.
- The curriculum that we use to teach students should be standards based instead of fact based. Curriculum standards should be adaptive to an ever changiang world.
- Vocabulary builds a base of content knowledge. True understanding is developed when students build on that base with personal experience with the material.
- The goal of education is to move students from acquiring facts to authentic mastery and meaningful use of the essential standards.
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