The Curriculum Bridge 3/e

Pearl G. Solomon is professor emerita of teacher education at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, New York. She has served as a director and officer for professional organizations and as a consultant to many school districts, the New York State Education Department, and the United States Department of Education. Solomon is the recipient of a number of special awards from the state and community for her work in science, math, health, and career education.

Preface to the Third Edition Who Should Read This Book What This Book Is About Acknowledgments About the Author 1. Why Standards and Tests Are on the Front Page About This Chapter At the Top of the Political Agenda: Education Why the Focus on Standards and Tests? The No Child Left Behind Legislation Economic Influences and Some Words of Caution The Media Influence Opinions on Standards The Origins of the Current Wave of Public Concern Initial Responses of the Educational Community Government Calls for Reform Initial Responses to the Calls for Reform Standards in Other Countries A Summary: Systemic Change, Restructuring, and Reform Notes 2. Who Chooses the Curriculum? Are Standards and Tests Necessary? About This Chapter Some Charismatic Differences of Opinion The Public Concerns, Opinions, and Influences Teachers and Teacher Organizations Respond University Professors and Researchers Respond Forms of Curriculum Control Nongovernment Influences on Curriculum Getting Ready to Design Curriculum Notes 3. About How Learning Happens About This Chapter Educational Philosophy: Piaget and Constructivism Compromise The Changing Nature of the Concept of Intelligence Cognition, Metacognition, and Goals: Connections to Practice Interest Real Experiences and Technology in the Instructional Process Connecting Research to Practice: Summary Hypotheses Notes 4. Choosing Standards and ?Designing Them Down? About This Chapter The Curriculum Committee Meets A Bit of History Defining Standards in New Terms Curriculum Enactment 5. Constructing Creative Classrooms About This Chapter?Dealing With the Differences Organizing the Environment The Actors: The Performers and Their Director The Script: The Overall Plot Notes 6. How Are We Doing? Measuring Success About This Chapter Standards and Their Measures The Purposes of Measures or Assessments A History of Assessment Forms The Quality and Consequences of High-Stakes Assessments Improving HSSB Tests Where Should Meg, April, and Brad Begin? Challenge 1: Establishing Validity and Testing Reliability Challenge 2: Tasks or Performances Versus Concepts Challenge 3: Writing Rubrics Challenge 4: Disaggregating the Assessment Results Challenge 5: Levels of Performance, Grading Challenge 6: Sharing Results With Students, Parents, and the Community Notes 7. Where Do We Go From Here? About This Chapter Where Will the Leadership for Needed Change Come From? Professional Development for Teachers Using Technology and Its Networks for Sharing Curriculum and Research Technology for Communicating With Our Public Notes References Index

"This book provides good, practical suggestions and ideas, and shows their connections to educational research." -- Gary Schumacher, Superintendent "Comprehensive in scope, this book thoroughly lays out what a classroom teacher or curriculum developer needs to do to create an effective curriculum that can then be adapted into actual classroom instruction." -- Stephen D. Shepperd, Principal