Theory and practice in implementation

¶ … Curriculum assessment is currently a function of the teaching staff, under the auspice of the school's administration whom approve of each lesson plan that is assembled for use in the classroom. The remainder of this paper will focus on theoretical research regarding effective assessment methodology to enable student learning and conclude with recommendations regarding assessment in my school and hence, classroom.

According to Oberg (2011), "Current research indicates that students need authentic, meaningful curriculum to remain involved with the learning process, that this type of learning has positive results on high stakes exams, and that teachers require prior knowledge of students' skills and interests to develop high quality and effective instruction and curriculum." (Osberg, 2010)

Indeed, our administration requires a full report on each student to be sent from the elementary school to the middle school as the two are not contiguous within the same building. Therefore, the sixth grade teacher of student x does send a full evaluation to the seventh grade teacher to which the lesson plan becomes a function of the teaching style foreseen to benefit the student population.

According to Oberg (2010), "To "front load" the curriculum with authentic performance (pre) assessments offers the teacher as well as the student a way of examining current skills and knowledge prior to instructional decision making, and presents a direct link to authentic instruction." (Oberg, 2010)

Oberg continues to identify assessments, which ostensibly are evaluations (Hlebowitsh, 2005) as the methodology necessary to obtain and collate data. As the evaluation is used for mostly diagnostic purposes, the assessment is also provided for that reason as well. The performance assessment (Oberg, 2010), provides detailed information that sheds light on the student's skill set and ability to perform at the requisite grade level.

Of importance, is to note the input for the lesson plan is a function of the state mandated educational attainment goal for the requisite age level. Although there is some leeway with regard to the variance allowed regarding the teaching of the lesson, ostensibly, the material must be approved by my middle school administrators, the board of education, as well as the state education department.

The viewpoint of the administrator is offered by Scheibe (2004), "Sometimes we are asked by school administrators to develop a series of lessons or resources to address a particular issue or need. For example, the second-grade social studies curriculum in New York State includes teaching about rural, urban, and suburban communities, and teachers were having a hard time conveying those concepts to 7- and 8-year-old children." (Scheibe, 2004)

Part of the problem for teachers in relating to the children of modern learning curricula is the tremendous competition from television programs that force children to process information in an entirely different manner. This assessment is a function of my observations with regard to the interest and understanding of children with regard to environments outside of their immediate radius. The television program appears to limit the viewpoint and concentration of many of my students, up to 1/3 of the class is unable to properly process information regarding a different environment, inclusively foreign and domestic.

According to Scheibe (2004), "In using a curriculum-driven approach, teachers sometimes take a narrow focus for a particular topic or lesson (e.g., linking current advertising appeals to a sixth-grade unit on Greek myths) or weave media literacy into ongoing activities in their classrooms (e.g., in a weekly discussion of current events). Sometimes media literacy is used to link several different parts of the curriculum together (e. g., investigating local history and literature through examining original documents at a local museum)." (Scheibe, 2004)

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