¶ … features of the Saylor, Alexander, and Lewis (1981) model of curriculum evaluation is the model requires curriculum unit to have merit for society as well as for the individual classroom or school. Thus this model of evaluation seems a particularly appropriate schema to evaluate a unit on civil rights The name and subject area of the curriculum unit chosen to evaluate along the lines of this model one designed for a series of exercises for students of American government and history, specifically of the "Civil Rights Movement Beginnings in the 20th century." (Marsh, 2005)
The lesson plan made a strong commitment to reforming the social good of the larger context of society, as well as preparing children for the challenges of a society where African-American contributions of past and present have not always been recognized. The authorship component of the unit also gave students a sense of empowerment, of being able to rewrite history to include forgotten figures. In doing so, society will benefit as well, as important, lost periods of African-American history can be recovered and infused into the current civic discourse.
Saylor, Alexander, and Lewis evaluate each lesson plan upon the lesson's goals, subgoals, and objectives, upon the program of education in its totality as well as its specificity in relation to certain skills, and the instruction and the evaluation process. The model analyzes the success of the lesson relation to the groups being served by the lesson, students and society, as well as the lesson plan's designers, that of teachers. The comprehensive and multimedia nature of the lesson on "Civil Rights Beginnings in the 20th Century" involves the students in the learning process in a hands-on fashion in a way that is superior, in accomplishing the stated factual and technical goals of the unit, and also includes modification elements for special circumstances, such as older students or special education students. There is no specific critique, only suggestions to bring in further components to enhance an already superior unit.
Curriculum Unit
Evaluation of Instruction
The curriculum unit designed for students in a parochial school in an inner-city district of Chicago both draws upon student ingenuity and community needs. It encourages students to sharpen their skills and draw upon resources of research they may not have known they possessed, as well as provides a historical and civic education. The instructor makes admirable and confident use of independent learning and student participation and allows students (and parents, if parents are consulted as resources at home) to shape the lesson as well as the teacher. This is important, as the lesson is civic and designed to create better citizens in a democracy who understand rights, and when their rights may be violated by others, or even by the state.
The curriculum unit overall, according to Illinois state standards, was supposed to convey historical information about the civil rights movement, as well as help students learn what the concept of 'unalienable rights' may be, in the context of American civic culture, specifically as it relates to minority rights. The lesson segments touches upon the fight and to a lesser extent the legal definition for civil rights through the use of biographies of individuals from the movement, as well as enhances student analysis and critical thinking skills.
Evaluation of Specific Segments
The first curriculum component (2005) involves the creation of a Children's Encyclopedia to the Civil Rights Movement, and is designed for grades 5-8. The creation of an biographical encyclopedia on the subject is designed with the goal of highlighting forgotten figures of the movement, and to create a contrast in the children's mind between an 'ordinary' encyclopedia, with its more limited scope of cultural literacy. It creates a new vision of history the students are striving to create, in their own lives, as well as through the scope of the assignment. Biography is also an excellent, specific...
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