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Patrick Guse Curriculum Development and Instruction Design Research Paper November 30, 2010 **Using Standards in Curriculum and Instruction planning ** Standards are the starting points for all educators in the process of developing curriculum and designing instruction for diverse learners. The direction schools have been heading towards is more and more towards standards based grading, “which involves measuring students’ proficiency on well-defined course objectives” (Scriffiny p. 70). The standards also lay the foundation of what will be taught in the classroom for teachers, students, parents, and other community members. The curriculum being analyzed is designed for high school level students and specifically focuses on the content of the American Civil Rights Movement. The Social Studies standards chosen are, “Standard B: History performance Standards – Grade 12”. By the end of grade twelve, students will: B.12.1 Explain different points of view on the same historical event, using data gathered from various sources, such as letters, journals, diaries, newspapers, government documents, and speeches. B. 12.3 recall, select, and analyze significant historical periods and the relationships among them. The common core state standards for reading are: 3. Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or a series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them 6. Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose. The standards chosen (content and reading) set the guidelines in which the curriculum will be established. Everything teachers do concerning planning and setting guidelines are based upon standards. Teachers cannot teach and structure content in whatever way they feel, there must be some guidelines in place that provide structure. All teachers teaching the same classes should be on the same page in terms of expectations and standards. How you teach the same content as other teachers is the freedom given to an educator and is what makes each classroom unique. However, everything starts at the standards when discussing how to develop a curriculum. Educators must have a baseline as to what is the absolute essential information and skills that students must walk away with after finishing the class. As we have been learning about the “Big Ideas” are focusing on the standards and what is being taught as it pertained to the standards. Standards represent the goals and targets of not only individual schools, but state wide educational institutions. Kim Marshall states, “Standards are broad statewide learning goals…Almost all states have now linked their standards to high – stakes tests” (Marcia p.1). The standards lead to students achieving success or failure on tests that weigh heavily on their futures. Standards not only weigh heavily on tests, but all the stages of building the curriculum.

Citations: (2 articles (Scriffiny and Marshall) and 2 web-sits for the standards)