Hi all,
Recently, I was made aware of the high level of interest in states, or programs, developing their own customized curriculum. I am curious about any processes used to guide teachers in the design process for curriculum and instruction. I invite you to check out this LINCS Resource Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy (TEAL) Just Write!
How do you provide guidance and quality assurance when you are creating your own standards-based content? What struggles have you had? I am aware that many of us are working through various stages of these questions so I'd love to hear what your doing.
Sincerely,
Kathy Tracey
@Kathy_Tracey
Comments
We are utilizing backwards design. The problem we are running into is the lack of prior knowledge of our students. How far back do we want to go when it comes to the math skills? How long will it take them to master a topic. We have cross checked the HiSET standards with the TABE 11/12 standards. Plus added in the low, medium, high points mentioned in the TABE blue prints. There is a free online math website (not sure if I can mention names) that you can identify lessons by standards and recommend those to students. It isn't perfect, but we are still working on it.
But we are breaking down the math by the strands tested, then identifying the standards and building a unit based on that.
Hi Stephanie,
Feel free to share your resources. I'm sure many people would like to integrate field tested resources into their practices.
You ask an interesting question about 'how far back in building background knowledge do we need to go?" In math, I often have even my advanced math learners begin 'at the beginning'. We also don't know where the gaps in knowledge may exist. Does the learner know how to add and subtract correctly? Possibly. Does the understand the associative or commutative properties? Possibly. But if they lack that particular skill, understanding more complex problems can be complicated. When student have time to review - or perhaps learn- foundational skills, then the more advanced skills become easier to navigate.
Kathy