Curriculum: District Stories of a Path to Improved Achievement

$179.00

David A. Squires, PhD (Editor)
Southern Connecticut State University, Department of Educational Leadership, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Series: Education in a Competitive and Globalizing World
BISAC: EDU043000

A curriculum is not known to improve academic achievements. This book offers case studies of three Connecticut districts of high, medium and low socio-economic status, three districts from a national sample that won the prestigious Booker prize mainly representing low SES districts, and 10 districts that have implemented a Balanced Curriculum with a sample of various SES districts from high to low. All of them have used their curriculum as the vehicle toward improved achievements.

The districts studied have four common themes, represented by the acronym “ASIA”, for Alignment, Structure and Stability, Implementation and Infrastructure, and Assessment. All districts aligned their curriculum to state standards and assessments. They had a structure for the curriculum and had stability at the superintendent’s position. The districts applied a lot of effort and attained results from implementing the curriculum and developing the infrastructure to support implementation, and they finally incorporated frequent district-wide assessments into their design. The book documents the subsets of these four areas that were present in most districts that might help other districts to replicate the findings. Research in the four areas is also documented.

This book demonstrates through the case studies that it is possible to use curriculum as a framework for raising test scores. This is not normally thought of as a path to improved achievements. The fact that districts from a wide range of socio-economic statuses have used their curriculum to improve achievements demonstrates that a wider application of this direction could yield positive results for other districts. (Imprint: Nova)

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction to Part One, Chapter 1 and 2

Introduction and Book Summary

Chapter 1. The Balanced Curriculum Model
(David A. Squires, Southern Connecticut State University, Connecticut, USA)

Introduction to Part Two: Chapters 2-6

Chapter 2. The Alignment Research
(David A. Squires, Southern Connecticut State University, Connecticut, USA)

Chapter 3. Curriculum Structure and District Leadership Stability
(David A. Squires, Southern Connecticut State University, Connecticut, USA)

Chapter 4. Implementation and Infrastructure
(Meagan Martins, Administrator in the Danbury Public Schools, Connecticut, USA)

Chapter 5. Implementation: A Model for Making Implementation Plans
(David A. Squires, Southern Connecticut State University, Connecticut, USA)

Chapter 6. Assessment Research
(David A. Squires, Southern Connecticut State University, Connecticut, USA)

Introduction to Part Three: Chapters 7-11

Chapter 7. Curriculum Development in 3 Urban Districts that have Raised Achievement
(Heather Zavadsky, Ed Practice Connect, Connecticut, USA)

Chapter 8. Building Infrastructure for Improved Achievement in Norwalk, CT
(Salvatore J. Corda and John Keough, Previous Superintendent in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA and others)

Chapter 9. Doing Curriculum for Improved Achievement in Norwalk, CT
(Salvatore J. Corda and John Keough, Previous Superintendent in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA and others)

Chapter 10. Bristol Public Schools Improve Student Achievement
(Mike Wasta, Former Superintendent of Bristol Public Schools, Connecticut, USA)

Chapter 11. Farmington, CT (High SES)
(Eileen S. Howley, former Associate Superintendent in Farmington, Connecticut, USA)

Introduction to Part Four: Chapters 12-14

Chapter 12. Commonalities and Differences of District Stories of Using Curriculum to Improve Achievement
(David A. Squires, Southern Connecticut State University, Connecticut, USA)

Chapter 13. Other Popular Avenues for District Improvement: Using ASIA to Assess their Power
(David A. Squires, Southern Connecticut State University, Connecticut, USA)

Chapter 14. Planning Curriculum Development and Implementation
(David A. Squires, Southern Connecticut State University, Connecticut, USA)

Appendix

Index

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