Educational Psychology—Limitations and Possibilities

CHAPTER 94
Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
in a Reconceptualized Educational
Environment
INTRODUCTION
RAYMOND A. HORN JR.
How are curriculum, instruction, and assessment different in a reconceptualized educational
environment? The best way to answer this question is to first provide a brief summary of how
these three aspects of teaching and learning are done in traditional classrooms. This summary
will be followed by a discussion of how these three aspects of pedagogy are manifested in a
reconceptualized environment, and then the chapter will conclude with an example of a lesson
or student activity that reflects reconceptualized educational theory and practice. This discussion
will focus on curriculum, instruction, and assessment; however, to better understand how these
aspects of teaching and learning are manifested in different educational environments, the roles
of those involved in the teaching and learning process also will be examined.
CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT IN A
NON-RECONCEPTUALIZED EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Before the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), an analysis of curriculum, instruction, and
assessment would find significant variation in how these three were done from school to school.
However, the federal mandate has had a normalizing and standardizing effect on pedagogy. The
most significant normalizing agent is the mandate for the use of standardized tests to measure
student achievement. Even though there is not a national curriculum assessed by one national
testing system, to meet NCLB requirements so that they can keep receiving federal educational
funds, the states have had to develop statewide curriculum in certain disciplines. Student achievement
of this curriculum or disciplinary standards is measured by standardized tests that have met
federal guidelines. The result has been the implementation of statewide standardized curriculum
and assessment, and in a less formal way, a move toward the development and assessment of
a national curriculum that has resulted in a technical rational definition of curriculum. In addition,
the federal government has required states to develop specific accountability structures
for student achievement. Most significant are the highly qualified teacher and average yearly
progress requirements. Accompanying these accountability requirements is the imposition of