Anaheim City School District

Anaheim City School District

Their school district

District background

• K-6
• 24 schools
• % of Latino students on the rise (85.5%)
• % of African American (1.7%) & white (5.1%) students have declined
• Asian, Pacific Islander has remained constant (4.7%)
• 85% of students are eligible for free or reduced-priced lunch.

Previous attempts at curriculum devolopment

Reading First

• Focus on English Language Arts curriculum
• developed an understanding of the adopted curriculum
• did not have a common understanding of the standards
• weren't sure the standards and the curriculum aligned

Power Standards

• Prioritized, grade-specific CA Content Standards
• reading, writing, math
• Focused on essential standards for student learning
• Did not provide the appropriate professional development and support for implementation.

Rigorous Curriculum Design

How they approached their implementation process

year long process

• 9 all-day meetings
• 80 member committee
• 60 classroom teachers
• curriculum coaches, principals and curriculum specialists
• parents

Step 1: Present the RCD model to the entire committee

Discoveries

• teachers had limited experience in unit development
• Committe in general was just becoming aware of the Common Core State Standards Initiative

Step 2: Set Goals

Time Frame

• 1 year to plan
• Pilot a 6 week unit at the end of the year.

Step 3:
Work, work, work

Collaboration

• worked in teams (10-12 members)
• reached consensus on a set of prioritized Common Core Standards
• created grade level units in English Language Arts (K-6)
• received training on formative assessments and authentic performance tasks
• smaller subcommittees to review and finalize the initial unit plans.

Step 4: Pilot the Units

Key findings

• critical professional development needed to occur before successfully piloting the units
• transferring control of the learning to students
• using direct instruction as a first step, but trained in new set of instructional practices to assist students accomplish the rigor of the performance task

Results

"I felt like the kids really wanted to do something rigorous even though we were at the end of the school year. They were committed to high quality as well as deep thinking" (p.22)

"Because the tasks built on themselves, it made it evident right away where students had holes and how to differentiate instruction to meet everyone's needs"

"Students were eager to learn, work together, and produce high-quality work. Each task required thought provoking questions, discussions, and teamwork to get them accomplished."

Final reflections

Key findings

• selection of committee members.
• ensuring educators drive unit development and design (not textbooks, standards, etc.)
• inclusion of authentic performance tasks / performance assessment (element of the Common Core)
• Commitment to professional development and collaboration.

"It is crucial to design curricula and assessment systems that emphasize authentic, real-world problems, engage students in inquiry and exploration, and provide opportunities for students to apply what they know in meaningful ways."