Curriculum Crafter® Tool - Glossary of Terms

Curriculum Crafter^® Tool - Glossary of Terms

(Please click on sub-section header to expand glossary terms.)

Curriculum

Articulation:

Assurance that the curriculum is consistent and sequential within and across grade/content levels. Vertical alignment – Curriculum is aligned between grade levels to reduce redundancy and gaps in instruction

Benchmark:

A standard by which something can be measured or judged. To measure according to specified standards in order to compare it with and improve one’s own product.

Common Core Standards:

The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).

The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.

These standards define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education careers so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs.

● Are aligned with college and work expectations;

● Are clear, understandable and consistent;

● Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills;

● Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards;

● Are informed by other top performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society; and

● Are evidence-based

Content Standard:

Content Standards are broad descriptions of the knowledge and skills students should acquire in the core academic subject. The knowledge includes important and enduring ideas, concepts, issues, and information. The skills include the levels of thinking, working, communicating, reasoning, and investigating that characterize each subject area. Content standards may emphasize interdisciplinary themes, as well as concepts in the core academic subjects.

Content Strand:

The sections within a particular content area that may be clustered by topic or process.

Content:

The subject matter to be learned.

Core Academic Curriculum:

A curriculum or course of study that is deemed central and usually made mandatory for all students of a school or school system based on state standards. The Michigan core curriculum addresses English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and arts education. The new Common Core Standards address K-12 English Language Arts and Mathematics.

Curriculum:

A dynamic structured series of intended learning targets; providing a coherent plan for instruction and learning. Curriculum serves as the basis for teachers’ instruction and students’ active involvement in the construction and application of knowledge.

Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCE):

Outline of learning expectations that are used to drive grade level assessments based on state standards and benchmarks.

High School Content Expectations (HSCE):

Outline of learning expectations designed for high schools and the MME curriculum that are used to drive course content assessments based on state standards and benchmarks.

Project Based Learning:

In Project Based Learning (PBL), students go through an extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem, or challenge. While allowing for some degree of student "voice and choice," rigorous projects are carefully planned, managed, and assessed to help students learn key academic content, practice 21st Century Skills (such as collaboration, communication & critical thinking), and create high-quality, authentic products & presentations. (Buck Institute)

Service Learning:

Service Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. The service-learning experience not only addresses a genuine community need, but also satisfies academic outcomes and objectives. In the process, state standards are met, providing a bridge between academics and the real world.

Standards Based Curriculum:

A series of intended learning targets in a core academic content area that identify what students should know and be able to do, rather than focusing on what content needs to be covered.

Strand:

Clusters of related content standards often representing a specific disciplines or a cross-cutting theme.

Unit of Instruction Standard:

Unit of Instruction Standard: A broad statement that summarizes what a student should know and be able to do within the unit of study.

Universal Design for Learning:

Universal design for learning (UDL) is a set of principles for designing curriculum that provides all individuals with equal opportunities to learn. Grounded in research of learner differences and effective instructional settings, UDL principles call for varied and flexible ways to:

● Present or access information, concepts, and ideas (the "what" of learning),

● Plan and execute learning tasks (the "how" of learning), and

● Get engaged--and stay engaged--in learning (the "why" of learning)

UDL turns this around: the curriculum is made flexible and customizable so that individuals can learn in ways that work best for them. A common aim of learning effectively and efficiently to high standards is achieved through many different means in the UDL curriculum. See www.cast.org for more information.

Universal Design for Learning:

● Present or access information, concepts, and ideas (the "what" of learning),

● Plan and execute learning tasks (the "how" of learning), and

● Get engaged--and stay engaged--in learning (the "why" of learning)

Instruction

21st Century Skills:

The P-21 Framework presents a holistic view of 21st century teaching and learning that combines a discrete focus on 21st century student outcomes (a blending of specific skills, content knowledge, expertise and a wide range of literacy skills) with innovative support systems to help students master the multi-dimensional abilities required of them in the 21st century.

Within the context of core knowledge instruction, students must also learn the essential skills for success in today’s world, such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration. Additional life and career skills include: global awareness, creativity and innovation; flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social and cross-cultural skills, productivity and accountability, leadership and responsibility skills. (for more information see: http://www.p21.org/ )

Alignment:

Assurance that academic standards are tightly correlated with common core standards/state standards and professional organizations. Alignment demands that lessons taught, resources and vocabulary used, and assessments administered are congruent.

Best Practice:

Instructional strategies that are based on current research, include the latest knowledge and technology, and have proven successful across diverse student populations.

Bloom's Taxonomy:

A leveled system developed by Benjamin Bloom for organizing thinking skills (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation). All levels of thinking are important for complete understanding of content and for long term student achievement.

Comparison Report:

A document showing the Unit Standards across grades and by the strands within the core content area, intended to show the articulation (vertical and horizontal alignment) of the curriculum. The report is available in Curriculum Crafter^® as a Course Standards Comparison Report.

Concepts and Information:

Statements of the essential elements or big picture concepts found in the Unit of Instruction Analysis. The information in this section provides teachers with consistent vocabulary and strategies for classroom use.

Differentiated Instruction:

Planning for teaching and learning in ways that are designed to meet the needs of learners at differing levels of the learning continuum.

Enduring Understandings:

Broad statements of content which are important for long-term knowledge and understanding. Enduring understandings involve big ideas that give meaning and importance to facts, are usually not obvious or concrete, and are deliberately framed as generalizations.

Essential Questions:

Over-arching questions about a unit's content that have no simple, right answer. Essential questions often cross subject boundaries or address philosophical or conceptual foundations of a discipline.

Higher Level Thinking:

Thinking beyond the knowledge and comprehension levels of Bloom's Taxonomy (application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation).

New Vocabulary:

A list of content specific words related to a content area course, which has not been previously taught.

Prerequisite Vocabulary:

A list of all the vocabulary words related to a specific content area course that the student has encountered and mastered in previous grade levels of the content area.

Resources:

Teacher or student materials aligned with and designed to assist in teaching specific lessons as noted in the Unit of Instruction Analysis.

Response to Intervention:

The strategy or plan for providing specific tactics to improve or remediate student achievement through the use of differentiated resources, improved teaching practices, assessments, and timely evaluation and revision of existing RTI plans.

Rules and Procedures:

A section of the Analysis of the Standards that lists rules specific to the content taught; offering further explanation of the lessons, and additional resources.

Scaffolding (Gradual Release Model):

An instructional technique in which the teacher breaks a complex task into smaller tasks, builds on student’s prior knowledge, models the desired learning strategy or task, provides support as students learn to do the task, and then gradually shifts responsibility to the students. In this manner, a teacher enables students to accomplish as much of a task as possible without adult assistance.

Scope and Sequence:

A document showing the Academic Standards across grades and by the strands within the core content area, intended to show the articulation (vertical and horizontal alignment) of the curriculum. The scope and sequence is available in Curriculum Crafter^® as a Course Report: Course Standards Comparison Report.

Sequence of Instruction:

Lessons designed to assure mastery of the unit of instruction. The lessons require higher level thinking, real-life application, individual and group work, and are based on current research of best instructional practices.

SODA Decision Making Method:

SODA Decision Making Method - Self Awareness: Understanding and knowing yourself based on interest, abilities, values and achievement test results. Option Awareness: Understanding, realizing and exploring all of the careers, education, employment and training opportunities from which to choose. Decision Making: Determining the match between yourself and your opportunities. What is the best fit for you? Action/Planning: Identifying and recording the steps toward your career options and goals on your Educational Development Plan (EDP). (Kent ISD Career Focused Education Team)

Teaching and Learning Standards:

Four instructional strategies recommended in the Michigan Curriculum Framework: higher order thinking, deep knowledge, substantive conversation, and connections to the world beyond the classroom.

TLW: The Learner Will:

Means “The Learner Will...” When combined with a Common Core Standard/Content Expectation, it establishes what a student should know and be able to do for a lesson or unit.

Unit of Instruction Analysis:

This page provides a roadmap for teaching the unit of instruction (TLW statement); foundational aspects of the unit of instruction such as enduring understandings, essential questions, prerequisite and new vocabulary; key concepts and information; a sequence of instruction (lessons), and rules and procedures, e.g., instructional suggestions and resources related to the lessons.

Web 2.0 Tools:

The term "Web 2.0" is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive sharing. The Web 2.0 websites allow users to do more than just retrieve information. Web 2.0 is considered the "participatory Web”. Web 2.0 sites provide users with information storage, creation, and dissemination capabilities that were not possible in the environment now known as "Web 1.0".

Why use PBL?

Students gain a deeper understanding of the concepts and standards at the heart of a project. Projects also build vital workplace skills and lifelong habits of learning. Projects can allow students to address community issues, explore careers, interact with adult mentors, use technology, and present their work to audiences beyond the classroom. PBL can motivate students who might otherwise find school boring or meaningless. (Buck Institute)

Assessment

Assessment (Formative):

Assessment that occurs concurrently with instruction and is used to provide specific feedback to teachers and students for the purpose of guiding teaching to improve learning. Examples include teacher observations, ungraded quizzes, exit slips, journal writing, blog posts, or a specific learning task.

Assessment (Summative):

Assessment that summarizes what students have learned at the conclusion of an instructional segment. Summative assessments tend to be evaluative in nature. Examples include tests, final exams, and culminating projects.

Assessment Standards:

Seven strategies by which to measure student achievement as cited in the Michigan Curriculum Framework: organization of information, consideration of alternatives, disciplinary content, disciplinary process, elaborated written communication, connections to the world beyond the classroom, and audience beyond the school.

Assessment:

Ongoing processes which measure student understanding of specified learning targets. Instruments used to collect data and evaluate student performance. In order to capture a complete and accurate picture of student achievement, a variety of, or multiple, data sources are strongly recommended. A primary purpose of collecting assessment data from multiple sources is to use the data to alter instruction. The quality of assessment is described using terms such as reliable, valid, and fair.

Authentic Assessment:

An appraisal of student application and transfer of knowledge, skills, and processes in life-like and/or simulated situations through demonstrations and projects.

Criterion Referenced Assessment:

Measurement of student achievement that tests what is taught.

Data:

Factual information, especially information organized for analysis or used to reason or make decisions.

Performance Based Assessment:

An appraisal of student application and transfer of knowledge, skills, and processes through demonstrations and projects.

Proficient:

The acceptable level of mastery for a given task.

Rubric:

A prescribed set of instructions, criteria, or rules that indicates the critical elements of a learning task.

Standards-Based Curriculum:

A series of intended learning targets in a core academic content area that identify what students should know and be able to do, rather than focusing on what content needs to be covered.