1. CORE Guaranteed & Viable Curriculum
Understanding the why and the what within a Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
CORE
Supplemental
Intensive

2. Guaranteed & Viable Curriculum
Objectives:
Each viewer will:
Know what is meant by guaranteed and viable curriculum.
Understand what educational systems, attitudes, and practices support a guaranteed and viable curriculum.
3. Be able to articulate three ways to support the practices that are fundamental to a guaranteed and viable curriculum.

3. Instructional Decision Guaranteed & Viable Curriculum
The instructional decision making process begins with all students having access to a guaranteed and viable curriculum provided by the school through CORE instruction.
CORE instruction is the combination of all the instructional practices, materials, and strategies provided to all students.
CORE instruction is based on the standards and benchmarks or the learning determined by the district to be essential for every student.
CORE

4. Guaranteed & Viable Curriculum
Assessment data are gathered on a regular basis and each student’s response to instruction is evaluated.
In order to guarantee a learning environment where instructional needs of ALL students are addressed, we have to know what they know.

5. Students with additional instructional needs are provided supplemental and CORE instruction.
Those students with significant needs are provided intensive instruction in addition to the CORE instruction.
Supplemental and intensive instruction occur in addition to CORE instruction.
CORE
Intensive

6. Working to Achieve High Expectations for ALL Students
Grade Level Expectation
Struggling Students
Accelerated Students
Click for items to appear
By utilizing IDM, the needs of ALL students-both struggling and accelerated are met.

7. Performance is monitored and students flow from one cycle of instruction to another as indicated by data. ALL students receive instruction to address their unique learning needs.
This is all driven by student progress data.
Intensive
Supplemental
CORE

8. When time and support are
regarded as constants,
LEARNING
will be the variable.
1. In other words: Some students will NOT meet essential benchmarks, if time and resources remain rigid.
2. Historically, teachers have been given significant autonomy to decide what content is emphasized or even skipped, how it is presented, and for how long.
3. Listen to this quote from Whatever It Takes by Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, and Gayle Karhanek. Do you think this comes close (though unspoken) to what happens in classrooms?
“Kids, there is a very important concept in this unit we are about to begin, and I really want all of you to learn it. But I can only devote 3 weeks to this concept, and then we have to push on to cover all the other concepts I am supposed to teach you this year. The schedule limits us to 50 minutes a day, and I can’t make it 55 minutes. So, during this unit, time to learn will be a constant: you all will have 50 minutes a day for 3 weeks. When it comes to giving you individual attention and support, I’ll do the best I can. But I can’t spend a lot of class time helping a few of you who are having difficulty if the rest of the kids have learned it. That is not fair to those students. So, in effect, you will all have essentially the same amount of support during this unit.”

9. In the instructional decision making process LEARNING is the constant.
Time and support become the variables.
The school learning community provides opportunities until essential learning occurs.
When instructional decision making is implemented the same teacher might say:
Kids, there are some very important concepts in the unit we are about to begin. They are written on the poster on the wall and on own classroom website. Everyone in our class needs to know them. This unit will be our focus for several weeks. We will all work together for about 30 minutes each day and then we will break into groups with different projects and tasks. This will be a good time for me to work with individuals or groups as we all work toward the goals of our unit. In the folders, on top of the resource cabinet, you will find things that will help you if you need extra help or ideas.

10. guaranteed and viable curriculum,
When a school has a
guaranteed and viable curriculum,
it means that the learning and skills considered essential are considered essential for ALL students, and the school is set up to ensure that essential learning occurs for ALL.
Stated in another way:
Every student is working toward the same benchmarks.
Everyone has access to core instruction
and
the school is set up to make that happen.
Note: Some districts refer to the standards and benchmarks as performance indicators.

11. What has to be in place for districts to carry out this guarantee?

12. One
Textbook
Driven
The entire learning community has a clear understanding of the concept of curriculum.
Curriculum is the standards and benchmarks or learning determined to be essential for ALL students.
This curriculum is the focus of all instruction.

13. When educators embrace this concept of curriculum, instead of asking, “how can I cover all the material in this textbook?”
the question becomes
“What materials should I use and what instructional opportunities must I provide to ensure that ALL of my students reach the benchmarks set for the course or grade level that I teach?”
Click for animations

14. Two
The curriculum (standards and benchmarks) for each grade level and course must be:
clearly written,
thoroughly communicated,
(click) It is essential that the benchmarks for each grade level or course be (click) clearly written, (click) thoroughly communicated to teachers, parents and students, (click) measurable (benchmarks are written so that it is easy to determine which students have attained the essential learning and those who need more time and learning opportunities), (click) benchmarks need to be rigorous enough to challenge each individual student, (click) and relevant, essential learning must logically flow. It must be connected to what came before and link to what comes next. At the same time offering increasing challenges.
measurable,
rigorous enough to challenge each student, and
relevant.

15. Last, but not least, there must be
ALIGNMENT.

16. Three Alignment Benchmarks Instruction Intended Implemented Attained
It is essential that what a district expects their students to know and do (click) (benchmarks)
matches what learning opportunities are offered in the classroom (click) (instruction)
and both align with the evaluation of what has been achieved (click) (assessment)
Marzano uses these terms when describing this essential alignment. (click) He says what is intended aligns with what is implemented and therefore what is attained as the result of implemented instruction.
Assessment

17. Three Alignment K 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
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This alignment is not only present within a given grade level or course but from year to year, essential learning builds on previous learning and becomes more rigorous.

18. The curriculum must also be VIABLE.
In a standards driven curriculum, “VIABILITY means ensuring that the articulated curriculum content for a given course or grade level can be adequately addressed in the TIME available.”
What Works in Schools, 2003, p. 25
While screen is blank say:
1. We have been talking about what must be present for a curriculum to be guaranteed.
(click)“The curriculum must also be viable
Explain the rest of the slide (click)
2. Mention that the concept of viable means that something is workable, usable, practice-able, it’s alive, it produces.
A viable curriculum is unattainable without adequate time for learning to occur.
(Reminder from previous slide): When the instructional decision making model is functioning, time and support are the variables and learning becomes the constant.
3. It goes without saying, learning communities will need to have frank discussion on how adequate instructional time can be provided and protected.

19. In the instructional decision making process, these three components work together and are synchronized.
Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
1. (Click) There is assurance of essential learning for all and the time to accomplish it.
2. (Click) There is continuous provision for answering the question, “How will we know if essential learning has occurred?”
3. (Click) Teams work collaboratively to decide what learning opportunities will occur to meet each individual’s instructional needs.
The other two components will be the focus of the next four sessions.
Data-based Decision Making
Assessment

20. In What Works in Schools, Robert Marzano writes. . .
“synthesis of research data reveals that a guaranteed and viable curriculum is the school-level factor that has the most impact on student achievement yet it is probably the hardest to implement.”

21. Guaranteed & Viable Curriculum
Whatever It Takes, Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, Gayle Karhanek
What Works in Schools, Translating Research into Action, Robert Marzano
Most of the concepts presented come from these resources.
Whatever It Takes is a book that has been distributed to all district members who attended the Grand Rounds
It describes the factors present in several schools who turned things around - with respect to student achievement.
Department of Education document includes a glossary.