Creating Curriculum in Early Childhood

Enhanced Learning through Backward Design

Julie Bullard

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781351336635
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Bildung
• Subtopic: Bildung Allgemein

Creating Curriculum in Early Childhood explores the backward design model of curriculum development, equipping readers with the tools and methods they need to effectively apply backward design in the early childhood classroom.

Clear yet comprehensive chapters walk new and veteran educators through an effective method for curriculum design that promotes meeting standards through intentional teaching while engaging children in developmentally appropriate, interest-based education focused on big ideas and conceptual understanding. Featuring desired results, assessment methods, and teaching techniques specific to birth to age eight, this critical guide also includes practical tips for educators new to the method.

Designed to help students and practitioners alike, this powerful textbook combines early childhood philosophy and developmental research with highly practical descriptions, rationales, and examples for developing curricular units using backward design.

1 Setting the Stage

Every day, early childhood teachers across the world design curriculum-determining goals, planning learning experiences, and designing assessments for children birth to age eight. We become early childhood teachers because we want to make a difference in young children’s lives; to capitalize on the rapid growth in brain development that occurs at this age; to ensure that children are gaining developmentally appropriate social-emotional, physical, and cognitive knowledge, dispositions, and skills; and to lay a strong foundation for children’s future learning and success. Through early childhood programs, we want to assist children to become confident socializers, relationship-builders, thinkers, creators, problem-solvers, readers, and writers who know how to learn and who also love learning.

What is the best way to design curriculum so that we meet these goals? One effective way is through designing your own curriculum using backward design. This book will teach you this effective model for designing curriculum.

As you read the book, you will be hearing from some other voices besides just mine: three teachers and one teacher in training. They will be interacting with the text by asking questions and making comments. Let’s meet them now.

Meet Heidi—Heidi teaches in a public-school Pre-K program. The district is using a scripted curriculum that Heidi is required to implement to fidelity. This is her first year as a Pre-K teacher. However, she is an experienced teacher who has taught third and fourth grades for several years. Heidi has a K-8 grade teaching credential. Since she is teaching Pre-K, she must obtain a PreK-3 teaching endorsement, so she is taking graduate coursework in early childhood. Heidi describes herself as a very busy mom of twin toddlers.

Meet Jennifer—Jennifer is an adult educator who works for a resource and referral agency planning and implementing courses for child care providers. Previously, she was a teacher and a director of a Head Start program. Jennifer describes her life-work as advocating for increased quality in early childhood programs. She began teaching adults recently, feeling like this would allow her to have a greater impact on the field.

Meet Tony—Tony is a second-grade teacher in a charter school that uses the project approach to plan projects based on children’s interests. He describes himself as a constructivist who is a non-conformist. Tony enjoys outdoor activities including hiking, fishing, and kayaking and enjoys sharing this passion with the children. Tony is currently getting his master’s degree in curriculum and instruction.

Meet Tunisia—Tunisia is an early childhood major who is just entering a full-semester practicum. She also works part-time in a child care. She loves to read and wants to help children develop a love of literacy too. Tunisia is also interested in research-based practices and is concerned with what she deems “folklore teaching” or teaching based on past unproven practices.

What Is Curriculum?

What do you think of when you hear the word “curriculum?” This seems like a very simple question. However, there are numerous diverse images of curriculum. Wiggins and McTighe (2012), the authors of Understanding by Design (UbD), found 83 different definitions for curriculum in educational literature. Some describe curriculum in broad terms. The most traditional image is of curriculum as a subject matter such as math or science or literacy. Others view curriculum as a detailed blueprint for achieving outcomes through specific activities, defined methods, and listed materials. The focus of what is included in the term curriculum is also varied with some definitions including content only, others including content and methodology, while still others only refer to outcomes.

Regardless of our image of curriculum, when teachers begin to plan and assess “curriculum” they might think of the intended, published, enacted, or learned curriculum. The intended curriculum is what society expects children to learn. This is often embodied in the written or published curriculum. The enacted curriculum is what actually happens in the classroom or what children have the opportunity to learn. This is sometimes referred to as the “curriculum in action” or the “taught curriculum.” The learned curriculum or attained curriculum is what children actually gain from the curriculum. There is often a large gap between what we intend to teach, what we actually teach, and what children ultimately learn. It is humbling to realize that teaching does not equal learning. Just because I teach something does not necessarily mean that anyone else learns what I am attempting to teach.

In addition to the explicit curriculum, children also learn through the hidden curriculum. The hidden curriculum is not written and is often unintended. These are the messages and experiences that children gain from being in the setting. Children learn from the structure, routine, and from the values and attitudes of teachers, administrators, and other children. For example, they might learn that a child that sleeps well, is quiet, or lines up quickly is a “good child.” If they are bullied, they might learn that they are not worthy of being protected. They might see the star chart on the wall and absorb the message that they are not very smart if they have very few stars or they are very smart if the chart next to their name is filled with stars. It’s crucial that we consider these hidden messages we are giving learners.

Curriculum specialists remind us that even the untaught curriculum provides messages about what and who is important and unimportant. This is sometimes referred to as the null curriculum. For example, the No Child Left Behind Act began by only assessing literacy and math. As a result, other subjects such as the arts, social studies, and science received far less attention, sending the potential message that these subjects are not worthy of study. Another example of null curriculum is the decision of who to study; what type of families, what cultures, and what writers, poets, and historians. Each of these decisions provides messages. For example, if we don’t have materials and books that represent diversity, we may be giving children the message that you are only important if you are from the dominant culture. Since it is impossible to teach everything in school, some things are intentionally excluded (untaught) and someone is given the power and authority to make this decision. If we are using a textbook or a purchased curriculum, the authors and publishers are making this decision based upon their views.

Whether we are purchasing a curriculum or designing our own, we must be consciously aware of how we can make the curriculum inclusive for all children and families. This includes critiquing our environment for what is on our walls and on our shelves, as well as examining the music, art, guest speakers, and books we provide for children. Are we portraying a variety of cultures? Are cultures being portrayed accurately and respectfully?

We have touched on just a few of the different images of curriculum. The view we have of curriculum is important because it strongly influences the way we approach curriculum design. What is your view of curriculum?

For this book, we define curriculum as a roadmap that teachers use to assist learners in meeting desired outcomes. This roadmap includes content, teaching methods, learning experiences, and assessment. Like planning a trip, we know our end destination and can plan backwards from there. This does not exclude unplanned side trips but does help to ensure that our destination is either reached or a conscious decision is made to change direction.

Does the Choice of Curriculum Matter?

John Hattie, a professor from the New Zealand’s University of Auckland, synthesized over 15 years of research, 800 meta-analyses, involving millions of children to determine what actually works to improve learning. He examined types of practices and major contributors to learning. In his review, he found 153 meta-analyses involving 10,129 studies that examined curriculum in relationship to achievement. In examining the categories of influences on achievement, he found that the curriculum has a greater effect on children’s achievement than the influences of the child, child’s home, the school, or the teaching approach. The curriculum influences children’s achievement nearly as much as the teacher (2012, p. 14). See Table 1.1 for the effect size for each of these variables.

Table 1.1 Influences on Achievement

What is Effect Size?

Effect size is a statistical measure used to compare the magnitude or size of an effect. Effect sizes allow you to quantify and compare across studies and so are used in meta-analysis. Hattie (2012) found that the average effect size of over 900 meta-analyses of 240 million students to be 0.40. Therefore, an effect size of over 0.40 is above the norm and indicates greater growth than normal.

How does effect size differ from statistical significance? Statistical significance is often used to describe the difference between two or more groups. If the results are found to be statistically significant, it indicates that the difference is most likely not due to chance. The larger the sample size, the more likely it is that statistical significance will be found. This does not always mean that it has practical significance. Effect size quantifies this difference.

Why Is There So Little Research about Which Curriculums Are Most Effective?

Although schools across America and the world use curriculum materials, few have been evaluated for effectiveness. Chingos and Whitehust (2012) from the Brown Center on Education Policy point out that “many instructional materials have not been evaluated at all, much less with studies that produce information of use to policymakers and practitioners” (p. 6). They further state that when the Institute of Education Sciences What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) reviewed 73 commonly used elementary school mathematics curriculum, they found that 66 had either no studies of their effectiveness or studies that didn’t meet reasonable standards of evidence (p. 6).

To complete an effective curricular study, there needs to be a control or a comparison group that uses an alternate curriculum. A multi-year study is also desirable since the effects of curriculum can be enhanced or fade as time goes on. Ideally, children in the study need to be assigned randomly to either the control group or the curriculum group. But it is very expensive to conduct a randomized study of curriculum. For example, a randomized study of four math curriculums over the course of eight years cost 20 million dollars (Agodini et al., 2009; Chingos & Whitehurst, 2012; NCEE, 2016). As a result, many curriculum studies are not randomized. They do not include a control group. Without a control group, it is difficult to determine the effects of the curriculum since young children typically make gains in knowledge and skills regardless of the curriculum. It is also difficult to conduct controlled studies because schools are reluctant to have their children test a new, unproven curriculum. Further complicating the study of a specific curriculum is the difficulty in isolating the effect of curriculum versus other variables on learning. Additionally, even if a curriculum is researched, this research is quickly outdated as curriculum tends to be frequently updated.

The Preschool Curriculum Evaluation Research

In early childhood, there have not been many studies that have met these criteria. However, there was one large study that examined curriculum for preschoolers, The Preschool Curriculum Evaluation Research (PCER) study (Preschool Curriculum Evaluation Research Consortium, 2008). We often assume that if we purchase and follow a well-known curriculum to fidelity, we will be guaranteed better child outcomes. The PCER study was designed to examine whether children involved with each of 14 different curriculums had better outcomes than children who were not using the specific curriculum. Are child outcomes significantly better if teachers followed a curriculum to fidelity? Let’s examine this large national study to determine if this is the case.

In 2002, the Institute of Education Sciences contracted with 12 research teams to evaluate 14 different Pre-K curriculums: Bright Beginnings; Creative Curriculum; Creative Curriculum with Ladders to Literacy; Curiosit...