PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
Parental Involvement in Minority Community in U.S Public Schools
Interview Reports on Curriculum Development and Renewal Processes and Parental Involvement in the Minority Community.
Curriculum refers to a structured document that outlines the goals, philosophy, objectives, instructional materials, learning experiences, and evaluations that make up an educational program (Wentzell, 2006). It is a tool that helps in the administration of an excellent instructional program. The curriculum development process takes place over a relatively long time and involves students, teachers, and public and expert curriculum developers.
Interview Report on What Comes First in the Curriculum Development Process, Between Needs and Goals
On (Monday, 29th March), I interviewed John L. Brown, a curriculum and assessment specialist working with Connections Education, to get his expert opinion on curriculum development and the curriculum renewal process. The purpose of the first phase of the interview was to establish what comes first, between needs and goals, in the curriculum development process, and to obtain the interviewees reflection. The interview also sought to identify the implications in the curriculum development process.
I asked John to give me his expert opinion on what comes first in the curriculum development process when considering needs and goals. He said that an analysis of needs in any curriculum development process is always the starting point of a curriculum design and then followed by the goals and objectives (Albilehi, Han & Desmidt, 2013). One of the curriculum development assumptions is that an excellent educational program should be established to analyze a learners needs. He views needs analysis as a critical phase in planning educational programs. Learners needs can be obtained by the use of various methods like interviews and use of questionnaires.
By analyzing the interviews or the questionnaire, essential and relevant information can be obtained by experts as guiding principles by curriculum developers in the curriculum development process, even before setting the curriculum goals and objectives. This information can provide insight into who the students are, their goals, and their learning-style preferences. He added curriculum developers could use such information in decision-making in the development process. He added that needs assessment is essential so that the learners can have a chance to verify their skill and knowledge level. According to John, a needs analysis is very important for curriculum developers to know and describe the gap in terms of competency that already exists, hence, generate the best idea possible to bridge this gap (Albilehi, Han & Desmidt, 2013).
Having captured that area in detail, I went ahead to ask him the implication of this in the curriculum development process. He then explained that a needs analysis is like a bridge, which seeks to address the existing gaps in the training syllabus and its needs. Bearing this in mind, curriculum developers must perform a carefully considered, detailed, and well-organized needs analysis or assessment. This should be done occasionally. An evaluation should then be carried out to determine the running programs effectiveness, asking questions such as; is the running program still accommodating students needs, or has there been a deviation from the learners expectations? Therefore, needs analysis or assessment determines the learners needs in the program and structuring those needs simultaneously according to its priority. The information can be obtained using tests, questionnaires, observations, and interviews (Albilehi, Han & Desmidt, 2013).
John also noted that needs analysis could be considered a type of assessment process that can be evaluated in terms of reliability, practicality, and validity. A reliable needs analysis should contain a well-developed and systematic application of tools rather than simple observations. The results become more reliable when more individuals, learners, in this case, are...
…to make evidence-based decisions about this curriculum?
The second step is program visioning since considering the programs vision is essential and articulates its identity. This enhances the creation of outcomes and establishes the program curriculums general emphasis (Richards & Ashbourne, 2017).
Next is program outcomes. The creation of program outcomes helps articulate the specific anticipations or expectations a particular unit has for a student. These transform the goals and objectives of the program into actual expectations. One asks questions like, what should the learners know and do at the end of it when they graduate.
The fourth step is curriculum mapping and analysis, which provides a logical basis to establish how various curriculum components are related to the programs outcomes. It also analyses what the curriculum is doing well and the areas that need improvement.
Planning and implementation come next. The previous stage will have revealed areas that need improvement, and this should affect curricular change. But even before planning the changes in specific units, the overall pedagogical approach must be considered, and the changes that should be made to make the curriculum effective.
The final step in the curriculum renewal process is program assessment. This refers to the process of gathering, analyzing, and evaluating material and information from a variety of sources to help develop a deeper understanding of student progress in a course, program, or series of courses. This part answers how one knows whether the curriculum is doing what it is designed to do (Richards & Ashbourne, 2017).
In conclusion, he noted that as much as program assessment is the end of the renewal process, curriculum renewal is a cycle, and it is contnuous. Therefore, it is essential to design a plan for constant improvement to ensure that the curriculum remains practical and relevant despite the evolution of both internal and external factors. This…
