In the field of education, with national standards looming and accountability at an all-time high, school districts will soon face the responsibilities associated with updating curricula. Additionally, districts need to  anticipate another significant shift: revisions to the systems of accountability they have grown accustomed to using.

What should districts do to prepare? Glatthorn and Jailall suggest retooling curriculum and instructional programs to ensure a greater focus on both accountability and learning. They state that the role of the principal is beginning to tilt, including an increased role in both curriculum development and the development of instructional leadership.

But with this increased focus on curriculum development, accountability, and instructional leadership, there are a number of other issues to consider. What should the revised curricula incorporate? How will this compare with previous curricula? Who will be responsible for developing the new curriculum in each course? How much focus should we place on testing?

In exploring these issues, I found varied perspectives. The Guardian, A British publication, discusses a lack of facts and other vital knowledge that was overlooked in previous national standards. An American blog discusses a decrease in creativity as we place a greater focus on meeting the grade.

Regardless of what our new national standards include, districts and building leaders will continually influence what we teach and how we teach it. If the standards require that we teach an array of facts, districts will need to evaluate the standards to develop specific benchmarks to target these standards. These will guide the teachers as they develop lessons to teach the benchmarks in an effective manner.

I anticipate that we may lose something in the area of creativity, but effective teachers can adjust their practices to provide students with an opportunity for enrichment. And as we adjust to the new standards, we'll learn to incorporate more opportunities to increase student creativity.


Article from a British publication:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jan/20/national-curriculum-review-facts-and-vital-knowledge?commentpage=2#start-of-comments

Blog entry about NCLB vs. Creativity:
http://peterpappas.blogs.com/copy_paste/2010/07/as-nclb-narrows-the-curriculum-creativity-declines.html