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Curriculum alignment is one of the most important parts of curriculum design and planning. Assessments should be aligned with the learning objectives, and the learning activities should be aligned with those assessments.
“Goal-based design” begins with the mission of the school or district and what the school or district believes that students should be learning. Curriculum designers focus on goal-based design then ask questions like, “What role, if any, does activity-based learning play in the curriculum?” They also look at “what technology strategies and tools can we use to achieve our curricular objectives?”
The “Design-Down, Deliver-Up” Model starts with the Exit Outcomes. Curriculum designers look at questions such as, “What should a student know or be able to do when they exit a specific class? What should a student know or be able to do when they move to middle school? What should a student know or be able to do when they graduate?” Curriculum writers look at the Exit Outcomes, the program goals and objectives, the desired learning progression, and the learning activities. It is very tempting to start with fun, exciting, engaging activities, but that approach can lead to off-topic learning that does not meet any of the intended learner outcomes. By creating and including the activities last, curriculum designers can ensure that the lessons and objectives are in alignment with the outcomes set forth by the district and school. Teachers, on the other hand, start with the learning activities and progres upward to the exit outcomes.
“Goal-based design” and the “Design-Down, Deliver-Up” Model work hand-in-hand. In both frameworks, curriculum writers focus on the school’s or program’s goals, the exit outcomes, and the mission of the school or district. Both models look at the desired results and learning targets in order to create appropriate curriculum from the top down. They start with what the learners need to learn and then progress downward to how the teachers are going to teach. Keeping the end in mind helps curriculum designers and writers focus on the desired outcomes. This keeps the assessments and activities in line with the ultimate goals of the curriculum.
If I had total control over curriculum development and was creating a yearly planning guide, I would use both the “Goal-based design” and the “Design-Down, Deliver-Up” Model in order to help me align the curriculum with the goals of the state of Texas and my district’s stated learner outcomes. I would begin the design process with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) mandated by the state of Texas. These learning objectives are actually obligatory, and they are provided for teachers and students by the regulatory entity entitled the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
My district has a written curriculum already created, but it needs to be revised and restructured. As a part of the restructuring process, I would include both formative and summative assessment options throughout the curriculum. TEKS and stated learning objectives would be aligned with those potential assessments and assignments. Teacher-choice and autonomy are very important, and the suggested curriculum would include a variety of activities. Activity- and discovery-based learning would make up the bulk of the curriculum, and the assessments would be varied and learner-centered.
Formative assessments would occur on an ongoing basis. I would make suggestions in the curriculum for quick checks for understanding like thumbs up, thumbs down, exit tickets, consensograms, and “plus-deltas”. I would also give teachers more objective formative assessments like gamified quizzes and short curriculum-based assessments of 10 questions or less. The summative assessments would be placed at the end of each unit, and they would include choice boards, traditional multiple choice exams, extended constructed responses, and projects.
Teachers would be given six weeks of curriculum at a time with learner objectives, TEKS, assessments, and learner activities in a table. This curriculum would be aligned with the assessments, and the learning would be designed with the end goal in mind.
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