CRITERIA FOR

CURRICULUM ASSESSMENT

- Arjel Diongson

Criteria are set of standards upon which the different elements of curriculum are being tested.

The criteria will determine the different levels of competencies or proficiency of acceptable task performance.

CRITERIA FOR GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Goals and Objectives are statements of curricular expectations. They are sets of learning outcomes specifically designed for students.

Objectives indicate clearly what the students will learn. It also tells us what students will learn after instruction has taken place.

The items must reflect the tasks, skills, content behavior and thought processes that make up curricular domains and must also match the students’ needs.

PURPOSES OF GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

To have focus on curriculum and instruction

which give direction to where students go.

To meet the requirements specified in the policies

and standards of curriculum and instruction.

To provide the students’ the best possible education and describe the students’

level of performance.

To monitor the progress of students based on the

goals set.

To motivate students to learn and the teachers to be able to feel a sense of

competence when goals are attained.

ELEMENTS ON FORMULATING

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES - (Howell and

Nolet,2000)

1.Content

From the objectives, what content should students learn?

2. Behavior

What will students do to indicate that they have learned?

3. Criterion What level of performance should the students have to master the behavior?

4. Condition Under what circumstances should the students work in order to master that behavior?

Writing effective goals and objectives should also use the following general criteria:1. Syntactic Correctness2. Compliance with Legal

requirements3. The “Stranger Test”4. Both knowledge and behavior are

addressed5. The “So-What” Test6. Individualization7. Common Sense

CHECKLIST FOR GOALS AND OBJECTIVESSTATUS QUESTION

YES NO 1. Do the goals and/or objectives represent an important learning outcome that is a priority for this student?

2. Is there a goal written for each area of need stated in the present level of performance?

3. Are the goals realistic in the sense that they can be accomplished in one year?

4. Are the goals and objectives easily measured?

5. Are there multiple objectives representing intermediate steps to each goal?

6. Are the goals and instructional objectives appropriately calibrated?

7. Are the goals and instructional objectives useful for planning and evaluating instructional programs?

CRITERIA FOR

ASSESSMENT OF

INSTRUCTION

Instruction refers to the implementation of the

objectives.

It is concerned with the methodologies of the

strategies of teaching.

APPROACHES TO INSTRUCTION1. Supplantive Approach2. Generative Approach

Supplantive Approach Referred to as “direct”

instruction (Adams & Englemann, 1996).

The teacher attempts to promote learning by providing explicit directions and explanations regarding how to do a task.

The teacher assumes primary responsibility for linking new information with the students’ prior knowledge and ultimately whatever the students learn.

With this approach, information is presented in an ordered sequence in which component subskills are taught directly or a foundation of later tasks.

This approach to instruction is highly teacher-directed.

Generative Approach referred to as

“constructivist” or “developmental”.

The teacher functions as a facilitator who takes a less central role in a learning process that is student directed (Ensminger & Dangel, 1992).

The teacher provides opportunities for the students to make own linkages to prior knowledge and to devise her own strategies for work.

Its emphasis is on helping students to construct their own educational goals and experiences as well as the knowledge that results.

With this approach, information is presented on a schedule determined by the students’ interests and goals.

Pre-requisites for more complex information are expected to be learned as a consequence of the larger understanding students would be guided to construct.

Learning is assumed to be socially constructed out of the interaction between the students’ innate tendencies and predisposition (following the student’s timeline) and the social context in which the student lives (Stone, 1996).

Advocates of this approach do not seem to view teachers and classrooms as part of the social context.

COMPARISON OF TEACHING APPROACHESATTRIBUTE GENERATIVE APPROACH SUPPLANTIVE APPROACH

Buzz words used by proponent

Constructivist Developmental Top Down Holistic Authentic Meaning-based

Direct Instruction Teacher-directed Mastery Learning Task analytic Competency based Effective teaching

What proponents call the other

Romantics Fuzzy Postmodernist Unrealistic

Reductionist Drill-and-kill Dogmatic Unauthentic

Underlying beliefs about what is taught

Students construct their own understanding

When learning is contextualized, students will identify what they are ready to learn.

The skills that students need to learn can be derived from an analysis of the social demands placed on them

Underlying beliefs about how learning occurs

Learning is “socially constructed”, students link new information to prior knowledge when provided opportunities to observe or experiences

Learning can be induced through instruction that builds explicit links between new information and prior knowledge

Underlying beliefs about how to teach

Learning is developmental and occurs much the way early language is acquired

Teachers take a “hands off” approach and seek to provide a meaningful context in which learning will occur naturally

When learning does not occur, it can be facilitated by building it from the “bottom up” through teaching of prerequisite subskills.

Teachers take a “hands on” approach by structuring lessons and providing explicit direction

Common error made by proponent

Creating interesting classroom activities but failure to link these activities to learning outcomes

Too much emphasis on larger ideas, not enough emphasis on the components

By focusing on specific learning outcomes, they may fail to attend to other equally important interests and topics.

Too much emphasis on the components, not emphasis on larger ideas

GUIDELINES FOR SELECTING AN INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACHSelect the Generative Approach when:

Select the Supplantive Approach when:

The Student

The Task

The Setting

Has considerable prior knowledge

Has adaptive motivational patterns

Experiences consistent successes on the task

Is simple for the student Is well defined Can be completed using a

general problem-solving strategy

Is to understand, but not necessarily apply

Allows plenty of time to accomplish outcomes

Places priority on experiences and activities

Has little prior knowledge of the task

Has non-adaptive motivational patterns

Experiences repeated failure on the task

Is complex Is ill defined Has missing information Requires the use of a

task-specific strategy Is pivotal to the learning

of subsequent tasks Must be used with a

high level of proficiency Time allowed to

accomplish outcomes is limited

Places priority on task mastery