Free Essay: The Inception of the New Curriculum

The introduction of a new curriculum into the district schools is critical in ensuring that the system is appropriate to the current order. The program intends to introduce the materials, instructional resources and contents which are guided by the objectives envisioned in the policies of the state (Davies, 2013). The primary goal behind the new curriculum is to benefit the students, tutors and the state as a whole. The inception of a new curriculum introduces new materials and policies that were absent in the old curriculum. The proposal of the curriculum design is used as a model in the district school before the rolling out of the program in the entire district. The model will test the effectiveness of the program in those schools, and recommendations if any will be adjusted. This paper intends to cover the main factors that are significant to the piloting of the new program.

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Northside Independent School District (NISD)

The model program will be implemented in Northside independent school district as a test for the validity of the new curriculum. The Northside Independent School District (NISD) is a public school that admits learners to its grades K-12 after it was established in 1936 following the merging several small schools. The school offers various subjects besides the compulsory courses, elective coursework such as foreign languages and art enable students to widen their knowledge base. Special consideration also is given to students whose first language is not English (Ross-Gordon, 2016). However, the method of evaluation contains lots of examinations which subject students into pressure, and thus the state discourages the use of test and introduces a standardized way as envisioned in the new curriculum.

Geographical location and Demographic of the NISD.

The NISD is located in the Bexar County in Texas serving the neighboring counties of Bandera and Medina. The school is most prominent in Texas and fourth largest in the State serving more than a hundred thousand learners. Between the Bexar and Texas, Texas performed highly between the years 2010 and 2015 as few as 26.7% of the Bexar residents above 25 years of age attained university degrees (Cornman, 2013). The average income in the county was $51 while the state records amount to $53. The poverty line between the Bexar county differs in small margins with the State. The students, therefore, ail from middle-class backgrounds.

Cultural influence

The school is located in an area that is resident to diverse communities comprising of black students, Asian descent, Hispanic, and the whites who makes the highest population (Wilson, 2012). Given the state of the students, they have high chances of dropping out of school while some students are economically disadvantaged and are legible for the free or reduced price of meals. The enrolment of the students into more than one program is of high percentage. The students engage freely as colleagues while striving to achieve knowledge for a successful future. The backgrounds of the students do not impact much on their academics besides determination for success.

Curriculum Accrediting Body

The education system adopts the standards of education regulated by the State Board of Education. The standards that set the adoption of the curriculum is obtained through extensive consultation of the education experts. The Texas Essential Knowledge and skills are responsible for giving accreditation to the district schools such the NISD whose status is grade K-12. The material which the learners use for learning is developed by the TEKS but also the State Board of Education chooses to accept or rejected due to the legislative authority given to the agency.

State Policies on Curriculum Development

The state, through the Curriculum Division, provides guidance and support to the school facilitators, stakeholders, and teachers on issues related to curriculum rules and regulations concerning courses, materials, and credit of awards. The curriculum that is designed to be rolled out in district schools obtain the support of the Curriculum Division and support of the TEKS in areas of mathematics, English language, arts, health studies, and sciences. The foundation of the curriculum is the provision of the essential knowledge and skills that is appropriate for every grade.

The program targets the existing grade level K-12. The program spans from the kindergarten and elementary level, where the teachers are concerned with the development of the children and lay the foundation for the future education, to the middle schools and high school (Weiland, 2013). Teachers not only teach the learners but also guide, motivate, and ensure a conducive environment for the students to learn into responsible people in society. Apart from the compulsory subjects such as mathematics, English, social sciences, and social studies, songs, poems, stories history and culture is offered to ensure that the education system is contextualized and enhanced to fit the culture of the students.

Benefits of the Pilot Program

The program is significant in testing the suitability of the curriculum and therefore accrue some benefits to the students in the Northside Independent School District in various ways. The program can confirm the readiness of the NISD before the full implementation. Given that the program is under the stage where it is carefully monitored, and the experts guide the students. Moreover, the reaction from the students is addressed directly and immediately thus clearing out any doubts that come with the pilot program. Prior, full implementation, the students would have adopted the program and would have no problems using the new system.

During piloting of the program, the students are accorded sufficient time and resources which are necessary for complete adoption of the program. During this undertaking, the students may be found to require other resources such as book materials or infrastructures such as classes, library, pitch or training. The student in the Northside Independent School District can take advantage of the program during its trial stages.

Recommendations of the students are taken seriously and included during the evaluation of the program upon the end of the piloting phase. The adjustment benefits the student as the changes are based on their unique challenges making the program tailored to fit their school. The students develop the feeling of being part of the project which is very important in boosting the morale of the learners. Inspired learners can provide the necessary cooperation and obtaining the desired numerical data would be accessible thereby improving the education in general and in a nutshell, the student themselves promotes their education curriculum.

Instructional goals of Curriculum

The curriculum is intended to provide the expected learning outcome, produce observable results in both teachers and students systemically and intentionally according to the state policies. Upon the successful implementation of the curriculum, the learners must have mastered the necessary knowledge, attitude, competency, and responsibility. The instructional goals intended for the program include; promotion of the teacher's professionalism given that teachers are the at the center of curriculum development and oversee its success. An interactive program enables the teacher to acquire the skills, understanding, assimilation of knowledge, and experiences.

Moreover, the instructional goal of the program is to build critical thinkers among the students enabling them to acquire knowledge through research, experiences and generate information essential for decision making. The curriculum provides relevance as it focuses on contents that relate directly to the needs of the modern learners thereby empowering them to be confident and self-reliant.

The purpose of designing the new curriculum is to achieve the goals enshrined in the policies made by the state. The state desires to teach the students skills that enable them to be responsible members of the state that uphold the values of patriotism. The work environment that the learner is exposed to would be bearable through the preparation of the learner during the school days.

The indigenous and minority students are offered a chance of inclusion and consideration. The new curriculum replaces the old education where students are exposed to provocative model in which race and ethnicity are significant issues. Therefore, appropriate knowledge is disseminated to give all the students abilities and opportunities to improve themselves and their families through education.

The old curriculum exposes the student into extreme pressure of studying for the exams. The new program, however, eliminates this kind of system and introduce the system in which the student's abilities are evaluated and promoted. The goal is to ensure that student is the confidence of themselves, engage in programs that they are best in and improve competency level.

References

Cornman, S. Q. (2013). Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts: School Year 2010-11. National Center for Education Statistics.

Davies, R. S. (2013). Flipping the classroom and instructional technology integration in a college-level information systems spreadsheet course. Educational Technology Research and Development, 463-580.

Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2016). Foundations of adult and continuing education. John Wiley & Sons.

Weiland, C. &. (2013). Impacts of a prekindergarten program on children's mathematics, language, literacy, executive function, and emotional skills. Child Development, 2112-2130.

Wilson, W. J. (2012). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. University of Chicago Press.