Individualizing the Curriculum: What Works Best?

Blog Post #2

This JHU Curriculum Theory, Development and Implementation course has helped me grow in my understanding of curriculum, as I begin a new phase of my career in education to strengthen student achievement.  Through the course, we have looked at many factors that influence what students must know and be able to do.  In this new age of curriculum redesign, technology integration, and 21^st century literacy skills, along with the new Common Core State Standards, it is more important than ever that we make good choices when utilizing and revising curricula for a school or district.

Individualizing the curriculum is a healthy challenge, and one we must consider carefully.  Is there a model or individualized program that works best in any given school or district?  Is it even possible to define what is best?  I think not, but we can make some wise choices that will give us the best strategies for improving student achievement. 

I begin this thought process with the assumption that Differentiated Instruction is the expectation, the norm, the “way we do things around here.”  The school’s mission, vision and goals can all be realized through a differentiated process for the administrators, the teachers, and most importantly, the students. 

The Glatthorn text substitutes the term individualized for a clearer term adaptive.   “Adaptive curricula are educational processes that arrange the conditions and materials of learning so that they fit individual learner differences” (Glatthorn, et al, p.468).  Using current adaptive approaches such as cooperative learning, learning styles models and computer-based models all work well in reaching all learners, and I believe that there is not a one-size-fits-all model that should be adopted for ALL students in a school or district.

Instead, I suggest implementing Universal Design for Learning to frame all curricular activities, using the framework as the building-blocks and foundation to curriculum that adapts naturally to help all learners learn, regardless of their learning style, interests, and/or disabilities.  Through Universal Design for Learning, I am convinced that educators have a better chance at improving learning for all students. Students should experience a variety of learning gateways, through cooperative grouping, grouping by learning styles, and individualized computer programs that adapt to levels based on student input.  Other good models include parallel and/or accelerated curriculum for the Gifted and Talented, and early intervention programs for the academically challenged learners, such as Reading Recovery and Response to Intervention models.

Developing relevant curriculum that reaches each and every learner in the school community is a huge challenge for school leaders today.  Is there something that can be called “the best”?  What is best is what works for everyone, and that is a differentiated, individualized approach that utilizes a variety of models and systems.  Will it be easy?  Absolutely not!  However, it is a mission I choose to accept!

Reference: 

Glatthorn, A.A., Bosche, F., Whitehead, B. (2009).  Curriculum leadership: Strategies for development and implementation. Thousand Oaks, CA. SAGE Publications.

Co-teaching: A Partnership for Success

Blog Post #1

Co-teaching is a way to deliver instruction to diverse learners drawing on the strengths of each teaching partner in the planning, delivery and reflection of learning, in order to help ALL students learn.  In most cases, one teacher is the general education teacher and the other is the special education teacher.  The general educator serves as the content and curriculum expert, and the special educator is the learning-process expert, making sure the content is accessible to students with and without disabilities (Heitin, 2011).  The features of this model range from a separate “class within a class” to full collaboration and complete integration for all students.

I experienced the co-teaching model myself during a conference sponsored by Very Special Arts (VSA), an international organization on arts and disability.  Two presenters/teachers were teaching a group of us the history of Japanese Taiko Drumming, which included opportunities to play the drums after learning a beginning drum sequence.  While one teacher spoke to the group, the other was scaffolding the instruction by drawing a graphic organizer and supporting the lecture/demonstration with additional non-verbal assistance.  The two would switch roles frequently, and the group experienced the learning in ways appropriate to their learning styles.  I will never forget that experience, as it culminated in a group performance utilizing the skills we learned in the lesson.

I refer to co-teaching often, encouraging teachers and administrators to utilize this model whenever possible.  With the importance of Common Core State Standards and 21^st Century literacy skills, co-teaching is an effective way to support these revised standards and skills, making the learning accessible to all learners.

As a curriculum supervisor or leader, the first challenge to implementing this model is cost.  It is expensive to hire the staff needed to make co-teaching a reality.  For the sake of this blog post, let’s assume that funding is not an issue.  What are the challenges?  Every instructional model requires a certain amount of trial and error, and it is especially true for co-teaching.  I would certainly utilize the Co-teaching Rating Scale (Gately & Gately, 2001) to help teachers focus on areas that need improvement.  The two teachers need to build trust among each other and establish some operating standards and understandings/assumptions.   

Open communication is a must, with room to revamp and revise as needed.  As a leader, I would work to build the trust and develop collaboration skills among the co-teaching teams.  I would address all of the challenges and struggles by implementing a strong professional development program and develop a viable professional learning community among the teams of teachers.  This model requires a lot of maintenance and revising.  Sometimes two individuals just don’t “click” as partners, and it would be my responsibility to address the situation and either repair it or revise the pairing completely. 

That is the nature of this work – we need to revise “on-the-fly” all the time in education, and this is no exception.  Co-teaching has many benefits, and when it works, it really works, helping all students learn, regardless of their learning needs.

References:

Gately, S. E. & Gately, Jr., F. J. (2001, Mar/Apr). Understanding co-teaching components. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40-47. Retrieved from https://inclusiveed.wikispaces.com/file/view/Understanding CoTeaching Components.pdf

Heitin, L. (2011, October 12). A Maryland initiative seeks to scale up co-teaching as a way to support students of all needs. Edweek, 5(01), 26. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org