Notesale: Turn your study into money

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COMPREHENSIVE EXAM QUESTION
Sarah Cochran
From Diane E
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D
The textbook by Ornstein offered an excellent summary of research on bringing about
curriculum change
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Changing curriculum is one of the hardest things that schools and educators go through,
the textbook by Ornstein goes into great depth about the issues that curriculum leaders must face
with the implementation of new curriculum
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It is really difficult to persuade an educator to change
their way of teaching but by showing them that the new curriculum is in the best interest of the
students can help this
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On top of helping them realize it’s in the best interest of the
students the curriculum can be presented in a way that shows how it relates to the one that
already exists
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Many individuals are responsible for making sure that the implementation of the new
curriculum is successful
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It is important for the
students to feel like they are a part of the change that is occurring in order to give them
ownership in their learning
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Teachers are the key to
the success of curriculum change
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A supervisor is an individual
put in place to provide this help for the teachers
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The
principle is another important person who is involved in the success of curriculum change
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They also keep the mode of communication open, which allows individuals to

actively talk about the curriculum change
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Then there are the curriculum consultants
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They help the teachers by giving them advice on what they
can do to be more successful in the process, as well as helping the teachers become more
comfortable with the whole process
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Parents and
community have always been a part of curriculum change through committees that oversee it
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Curriculum change takes place in three stages; initiation, implementation, and
maintenance
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It allows time for questions and answers
regarding the new procedures that will be put into place
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This
stage is actually getting the educators to try out the new curriculum
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If maintenance isn’t
put in place then teachers often feel that there is no reason for the change
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One of the most important aspects of implementing a new curriculum is support
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Research
has shown that this support can be given through in-service training
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They should spread
knowledge and experiences that others in different schools have witnessed with the new
curriculum
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This means that when a district decides to
change the curriculum they need to be fully funded in order to do so
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If
the district doesn’t get the proper funding and can’t provide the materials necessary then the
implementation of the curriculum will fail
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This can be due to many reasons but one of
the biggest reasons is that individuals find it easier to keep things the way they already are
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Elmore believes
that a main reason for resistance is that the change adds to the educator’s already busy workload
and this isn’t wanted
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The rapidity of change is another reason that teachers are leery of implementation
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Several years ago Thomas Harvey came up with a list of twelve reasons as to why
educators refuse curriculum change and curriculum leaders should take them all into
consideration when implementing change
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Teachers will
also refuse change if they believe that it won’t benefit themselves or their students, a curriculum
leader needs to provide evidence of how it is going to help
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One of the major reasons teachers wont agree to curriculum change is the
lack of administrative support, this support comes from those responsible for the change as well
as the individuals in their school that are above them
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Insecurity is another big reason that
teacher refuse change
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Harvey’s
list continues with norm incongruence, boredom, chaos, differentia knowledge, sudden
wholesale change, and unique points of resistance
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There are several approaches that an educator can choose from when implanting new
curriculum
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In this approach
Neal Gross discuses that it is important for curriculum leaders to address the teachers fears and
doubts so that the new curriculum can take these into consideration and add the teachers
perspective to it
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Richard Schmuck and Mathew Miles discuss that change usually fails because leaders
believe it is a rational process
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They believe that when new curriculum is being
implemented it has to be a constant interactive process so that new ideas can constantly be
shared
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This model is based on the fact that
the curriculum has already been decided upon and is being implemented, and focuses on helping
the educator teach it
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This model is designed to take
place once the concerns of the teacher have been addressed
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This model relies on all “systems” working
together to make the curriculum a success
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A lot goes into making sure that the implementation of curriculum is a success
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In order for
implementation to succeed everyone involved must understand the program’s purpose, the roles
in which each individual will play, and who is going to be affected by the change
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