30 Questions
What is the ultimate aim of a curriculum according to the text?
To develop students' autonomous capacity to use learned content effectively
What is the ultimate goal of a curriculum according to the Common Core Standards?
The ultimate goal of a curriculum according to the Common Core Standards is independent transfer.
True or false:The Common Core State Standards are intended to replace old ways of doing business.
False
True or false: Standards are the same thing as a curriculum.
False
What are the four categories involved in translating the Standards into curriculum?
The four categories involved in translating the Standards into curriculum are Long term Transfer Goals, Overarching Understandings, Overarching Essential Questions, and Cornerstone Tasks.
Which category of the Standards involves curriculum-embedded tasks designed to engage students in applying their knowledge and skills in an authentic and relevant context?
Cornerstone Tasks
Why is it important to unpack the Standards into the four categories?
Unpacking the Standards into the four categories helps to ensure clarity about the end results and an understanding of how the pieces fit together.
What are the four categories involved in translating the Standards into curriculum?
Long term Transfer Goals, Overarching Understandings, Essential Questions, and Cornerstone Tasks
True or false: Educators do not need to understand the structure and intent of the Standards in order to work with them effectively.
False
What is the difference between Overarching Understandings and Essential Questions?
Overarching Understandings and Essential Questions are two sides of a coin that state what skilled performers will need to effectively transfer their learning to new situations.
What is the difference between Overarching Understandings and Essential Questions?
Overarching Understandings state what skilled performers will need, while Essential Questions state how they will need it
True or false: Curriculum is focused on outputs, not inputs.
True
What is the warning given by the Common Core Mathematics Standards regarding instructional sequence and pacing?
That a flexible sequence should be followed within each grade level
True or false: Cornerstone tasks are designed to be complex and challenging from the beginning of a student's education.
False
What are Cornerstone Tasks?
Cornerstone Tasks are curriculum-embedded tasks designed to engage students in applying their knowledge and skills in an authentic and relevant context.
True or false: Lack of capacity for independent transfer of learning will not impact a student's readiness for college or the workplace.
False
What is the purpose of problem- and project-based learning, small-group inquiries, Socratic Seminars, and independent studies according to the text?
To increase student autonomy and transfer of learning
Why should a coherent curriculum be mapped backwards from desired performances?
A coherent curriculum should be mapped backwards from desired performances because the ultimate aim of a curriculum is independent transfer.
What is the difference between Standards and curriculum according to the text?
Standards are outcomes, while curriculum are inputs
What is the warning given by the Common Core Mathematics Standards regarding instructional sequence and pacing?
The Common Core Mathematics Standards explicitly warn against assuming a rigid sequence within each grade level.
True or false: The Common Core Mathematics Standards recommend a rigid sequence within each grade level.
False
True or false: Designing a curriculum backward from the goal of autonomous transfer requires a deliberate and transparent plan for student support.
True
What is the purpose of unpacking the Standards into four categories?
To ensure clarity about the end results and an understanding of how the pieces fit together
How can a deliberate and transparent plan help students become less reliant on teacher hand-holding and scaffolds?
A deliberate and transparent plan can help students become less reliant on teacher hand-holding and scaffolds by offering the pathway to the performances envisioned by the Common Core.
True or false: Problem- and project-based learning should be used less as learners progress through the curriculum.
False
Which type of task is designed to recur across the grades, progressing from simpler to more sophisticated?
Cornerstone Tasks
What are some examples of teaching methods that should increase as learners progress through the curriculum across the grades?
Some examples of teaching methods that should increase as learners progress through the curriculum across the grades are problem- and project-based learning, small-group inquiries, Socratic Seminars, and independent studies.
What is the Common Core State Standards' aim according to the text?
To develop students' autonomous capacity to use learned content effectively
What is the pathway to the performances envisioned by the Common Core?
The pathway to the performances envisioned by the Common Core is a curriculum mapped in a typical scope and sequence based on grade-level content specifications, constructed around sophisticated "cornerstone" tasks.
True or false: Mapping a curriculum in a typical scope and sequence based on grade-level content specifications is the best way to encourage connected and meaningful learning.
False
Study Notes
- The Common Core State Standards require a careful reading and have new emphases.
- The Standards are not intended to be new names for old ways of doing business.
- Understanding the intent and structure of the Standards is imperative for working with them effectively.
- Standards are outcomes, not curriculum.
- Educators must translate the Standards into an engaging and effective curriculum.
- Curriculum works with the Standards to frame optimal learning experiences.
- Most definitions of curriculum focus on inputs, not outputs.
- The first step in translating the Standards into curriculum involves unpacking them into four categories.
- The four categories are Long term Transfer Goals, Overarching Understandings, Overarching Essential Questions, and Cornerstone Tasks.
- Unpacking the Standards helps to ensure clarity about the end results and an understanding of how the pieces fit together.
- The Common Core Standards have made transfer goals more overt.
- Transfer goals reflect the ultimate goals of education.
- Overarching Understandings and Essential Questions are two sides of a coin that state what skilled performers will need to effectively transfer their learning to new situations.
- Cornerstone Tasks are curriculum-embedded tasks designed to engage students in applying their knowledge and skills in an authentic and relevant context.
- Cornerstone tasks are designed to recur across the grades, progressing from simpler to more sophisticated.
- A coherent curriculum is mapped backwards from desired performances.
- Curriculum should be framed and developed in terms of worthy outputs.
- The ultimate aim of a curriculum is independent transfer.
- Lack of capacity to independently apply learning will make a student neither college nor workplace ready.
- The ELA Standards aim to develop students' autonomous capacity to use learned content effectively.
- Traditional curriculum sequencing reinforces a "coverage" mentality and assumes a prescribed instructional sequence and pacing.
- The Common Core Mathematics Standards explicitly warn against assuming a rigid sequence within each grade level.
- The Standards refer to the desired qualities of student work and the degree of rigor that must be assessed and achieved.
- Designing a school curriculum backward from the goal of autonomous transfer requires a deliberate and transparent plan for helping the student rely less on teacher hand-holding and scaffolds.
- Transfer is about intelligently and effectively drawing from your repertoire, independently, to handle new situations on your own.
- Problem- and project-based learning, small-group inquiries, Socratic Seminars, and independent studies should increase as learners progress through the curriculum across the grades.
- A curriculum mapped in a typical scope and sequence based on grade-level content specifications will encourage a curriculum of disconnected "coverage".
- Curriculum should be constructed around sophisticated "cornerstone" tasks, reflecting the performances that the Common Core Standards demand of graduates.
- Several standards can be addressed by a single rich task.
- Building the curriculum backward from worthy tasks offers the pathway to the performances envisioned by the Common Core.
Make Your Own Quizzes and Flashcards
Convert your notes into interactive study material.
Get started for free
