Leading Curriculum Development
1st Edition
Published on 17. December 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-1-4129-6141-7 (ISBN)
Description
"A book that every practitioner should own. The author has managed to describe the complex process of curriculum development in plain English."
-John Lundt, Professor of Educational Leadership
University of Montana
Develop a curriculum that can transform an ordinary school into a school of excellence!
Curriculum development, an essential part of educational leadership, helps schools establish purpose, define activities, and guide decision making. This thought-provoking how-to resource helps leaders make sound choices and develop constructive policies as they guide a school team through this critical school improvement effort.
Written by an expert in the field, this handbook introduces educational leaders to dynamic curriculum leadership and a curriculum development process that leads to highly successful school programs. The author demonstrates how administrators can adapt curriculum to meet their school's changing needs, incorporate emerging technologies, and reflect new and creative ways of thinking about education. The book walks educational leaders through the process, showing them how to:
Move beyond maintenance and management to address short- and long-term school reform
Create a school curriculum team
Establish a regular curriculum cycle of analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation
Develop a path for curriculum improvement
Filled with case studies, sample challenges and solutions, planning sheets, and more, Leading Curriculum Development is a much-needed guide for designing academic programs that lead to excellence in student achievement.
-John Lundt, Professor of Educational Leadership
University of Montana
Develop a curriculum that can transform an ordinary school into a school of excellence!
Curriculum development, an essential part of educational leadership, helps schools establish purpose, define activities, and guide decision making. This thought-provoking how-to resource helps leaders make sound choices and develop constructive policies as they guide a school team through this critical school improvement effort.
Written by an expert in the field, this handbook introduces educational leaders to dynamic curriculum leadership and a curriculum development process that leads to highly successful school programs. The author demonstrates how administrators can adapt curriculum to meet their school's changing needs, incorporate emerging technologies, and reflect new and creative ways of thinking about education. The book walks educational leaders through the process, showing them how to:
Move beyond maintenance and management to address short- and long-term school reform
Create a school curriculum team
Establish a regular curriculum cycle of analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation
Develop a path for curriculum improvement
Filled with case studies, sample challenges and solutions, planning sheets, and more, Leading Curriculum Development is a much-needed guide for designing academic programs that lead to excellence in student achievement.
Reviews / Votes
"A book that every practitioner should own. The author has managed to describe the complex process of curriculum development in plain English." -- John Lundt, Professor of Educational Leadership "A timely addition to the field of school improvement. The author creates a blueprint of easy-to-apply ideas and strategies that every school leader will find accessible and useful." -- Lyndon Oswald, PrincipalMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Thousand Oaks
United States
Publishing group
SAGE Publications Inc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 178 mm
Thickness: 11 mm
Weight
373 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4129-6141-7 (9781412961417)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Jon W. Wiles
Leading Curriculum Development
Book
11/2008
1st Edition
Corwin Press Inc
€81.50
Shipment within 10-20 days
Person
Jon Wiles is a highly experienced educator who has provided curriculum leadership to schools and educational agencies for over thirty years. His specialty is the creation and implementation of curriculum plans. Wiles's work as an educational consultant has taken him to hundreds of agencies in more than forty states and a dozen foreign nations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean.
Wiles is the author or coauthor of twelve widely used books addressing curriculum and educational leadership. His text, Curriculum Development: A Guide to Practice (Seventh Edition), has been used for nearly thirty years in colleges and universities throughout the world to train curriculum leaders. Other areas of publication by Wiles include teacher training, administration, school supervision, theory of change, politics of education, middle grades education, and technology.
Wiles is the author or coauthor of twelve widely used books addressing curriculum and educational leadership. His text, Curriculum Development: A Guide to Practice (Seventh Edition), has been used for nearly thirty years in colleges and universities throughout the world to train curriculum leaders. Other areas of publication by Wiles include teacher training, administration, school supervision, theory of change, politics of education, middle grades education, and technology.
Content
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Preface
List of Figures
1. Defining Effective Curriculum Leadership
What Is Curriculum?
Curriculum is the Essential Function
Dynamic Curriculum Leadership
School Leaders Must Also Be Curriculum Leaders
The Leader as Helper and Guide
Accepting the Challenge of Curriculum Leadership
Summary
End Notes
2. Basic Tasks of Curriculum Leadership
Defining the Program
Collarborating for Success
Providing the Path
Coordinating Activity
The Leader's Role
Summary
End Notes
3. Making Curriculum Purposeful
Finding Your School Philosophy
Techniques for Finding Consensus
If-Then Logic
The Role of Standards and Benchmarks
Clarifying Goals and Objectives
Pre-Assessing School Capacity
Establishing a Destination
Validation as a Critical Element
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
4. Building the School Curriculum Team
Selecting the Team
Using Committees to Activate Change
Small Groups
Conducting Meetings
Conferencing
Other Methods of Effective Communication
Leadership Style and Climate Formation
Achieving Consensus for School Improvement
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
5. Constructing the Path for Curriculum Improvement
Visioning
Clarifying the Steps
The Use of Feedback in Curriculum Work
Management and Time-Dating Goals
Standards as Boundaries, Not Goals
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
6. Detailed Planning to Implement Change
Curriculum Mapping
Alignment Criteria
Standards in the Curriculum
An Emerging Blueprint for School Improvement
Planning Tools That Empower
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
7. Curriculum Improvement Means Staff Development
Teachers as the Critical Ingedient
Why Many Teachers Dislike Staff Development
Preferred Staff Development Designs
Assessing Staff Development Efforts
A Word About Adult Learners
Curriculum as the Rationale for Staff Development
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
8. Closing the Circle Through Evaluation
General Functions
A Generic Design
Four Purposes of Evaluation
Eight Areas for Study
Using Technology in Evaluation
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
9. Coordinating Successful Curriculum Work
Some Reasons for Curriculum Failure
The Elements of a Comprehensive Plan
We're All in This Together
Planning Tools
Reporting to the Board and Superintendent
Timing Is Everything in School Improvement
Program Evaluation and Review
A Bath Tub Filling Up
Boosters That Can Accelerate Change
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
Resource A. Reproducible Planning Sheets
Resource B. Standard Curriculum Planning Resources
Resource C. Curriculum Resources Sites on the Internet
Resource D. Recommended Resource for Keeping Up-to-Date
Resource E. Glossary of Terms
References
Index
About the Author
Preface
List of Figures
1. Defining Effective Curriculum Leadership
What Is Curriculum?
Curriculum is the Essential Function
Dynamic Curriculum Leadership
School Leaders Must Also Be Curriculum Leaders
The Leader as Helper and Guide
Accepting the Challenge of Curriculum Leadership
Summary
End Notes
2. Basic Tasks of Curriculum Leadership
Defining the Program
Collarborating for Success
Providing the Path
Coordinating Activity
The Leader's Role
Summary
End Notes
3. Making Curriculum Purposeful
Finding Your School Philosophy
Techniques for Finding Consensus
If-Then Logic
The Role of Standards and Benchmarks
Clarifying Goals and Objectives
Pre-Assessing School Capacity
Establishing a Destination
Validation as a Critical Element
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
4. Building the School Curriculum Team
Selecting the Team
Using Committees to Activate Change
Small Groups
Conducting Meetings
Conferencing
Other Methods of Effective Communication
Leadership Style and Climate Formation
Achieving Consensus for School Improvement
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
5. Constructing the Path for Curriculum Improvement
Visioning
Clarifying the Steps
The Use of Feedback in Curriculum Work
Management and Time-Dating Goals
Standards as Boundaries, Not Goals
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
6. Detailed Planning to Implement Change
Curriculum Mapping
Alignment Criteria
Standards in the Curriculum
An Emerging Blueprint for School Improvement
Planning Tools That Empower
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
7. Curriculum Improvement Means Staff Development
Teachers as the Critical Ingedient
Why Many Teachers Dislike Staff Development
Preferred Staff Development Designs
Assessing Staff Development Efforts
A Word About Adult Learners
Curriculum as the Rationale for Staff Development
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
8. Closing the Circle Through Evaluation
General Functions
A Generic Design
Four Purposes of Evaluation
Eight Areas for Study
Using Technology in Evaluation
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
9. Coordinating Successful Curriculum Work
Some Reasons for Curriculum Failure
The Elements of a Comprehensive Plan
We're All in This Together
Planning Tools
Reporting to the Board and Superintendent
Timing Is Everything in School Improvement
Program Evaluation and Review
A Bath Tub Filling Up
Boosters That Can Accelerate Change
Summary
Sample Problems and Leader Actions
End Notes
Resource A. Reproducible Planning Sheets
Resource B. Standard Curriculum Planning Resources
Resource C. Curriculum Resources Sites on the Internet
Resource D. Recommended Resource for Keeping Up-to-Date
Resource E. Glossary of Terms
References
Index