Texas Social Studies Framework - Department of Geography ...

Appendix A: How Should Districts Go about the Curriculum Development Task?
district in Texas. Cutting corners on the resources
necessary for curriculum development will limit possibilities
for maximizing learning in the classroom.
Identifying the Task Forces or Working Groups That
Will Be Responsible for the Various Curriculum
Development Tasks
Careful consideration needs to be given to the composition
of task forces and working groups responsible for
the various curriculum development tasks. Generally
such groups should represent a wide range of expertise
and roles within the district. General suggestions for the
composition of key groups are as follows:
• The philosophy of social studies: curriculum
specialists, central office administrators,
principals, teachers, parents, and the public
• Needs assessment, current status of the social
studies curriculum, and changes necessitated by
the TEKS for social studies and other forces:
curriculum specialists, central office administrators,
principals, teachers
• General scope and sequence document: curriculum
specialists, central office administrators,
principals, teachers
• Grade level or course documents: curriculum
specialists, principals, teachers
• Instructional unit documents: curriculum
specialists, teachers
Setting Standards for Quality Control, Process
Monitoring, and Review of the Curriculum
In addition to choosing qualified individuals to serve on
groups charged with particular curriculum development
tasks, the leadership team is responsible for providing
the groups with guidance, a time line for their work,
specifications for the content of finished products,
suggested formats, and other assistance as needed. In
order to insure good communication between the
leadership team and other work groups, one or more
members of the leadership team should serve in a liaison
capacity on each of the work groups.
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Making Plans for the Implementation of the Curriculum
and the Accompanying Professional Development
That Will Be Necessary
The implementation of curriculum means change and
change nearly always encounters resistance from people
who feel threatened by it. One Texas educator is fond of
saying, “The only person who likes change is a baby
with a wet diaper.” If classroom educators and other
concerned stakeholders are kept informed of the curriculum
development/revision task as it is occurring, if they
participate in the development of the curriculum, if they
have had the opportunity to review the various draft
documents and provide feedback, if the curriculum is
presented in such a way that classroom educators can see
how it will help them to be more effective, and if they are
provided with the professional development necessary to
make them feel comfortable as they implement the new
curriculum, little resistance to change will be encountered.
If classroom educators are left uninformed, if they
feel their concerns are not being heard, if changes seem
to increase their workloads, or if they feel they are not
prepared to deal with the changes, resistance to change
will be strong and a low level of implementation can be
expected.
Establishing the Means for Monitoring Curriculum
Implementation and Ongoing Evaluation of the
Curriculum
The job of the curriculum leadership team is not over
once curriculum materials have been presented to
classroom educators. It is the responsibility of the team
to monitor the implementation of the social studies
curriculum, determining whether teachers are using the
grade level or course guide documents, whether they
understand the documents, whether the necessary
resources are available, and whether students seem to be
engaged and learning. An additional concern of the
leadership team should involve the collection of data
revealing how well the curriculum documents are
meeting expectations: are they clear, are they accurate,
are they comprehensive, are they teacher friendly, are
students meeting expectations. Regular communication
with classroom educators will reveal that even with the
best of planning, the new curriculum has shortcomings
and will need to be revised to make it more effective.