ECI 501 Analysis Presentaiton

1. Curriculum Analysis and
Critique Presentation
ECI 501
By Karen Hall

2. SRA Imagine It- 1st Grade Literacy
Program
 A comprehensive core reading program
 Addresses five areas of reading and writing
 Includes benchmark assessments
 Includes resources for differentiating instruction
 Cross Curricular Connections
 Structured literacy program

3. Goals and Objectives
 Provide 1st grade students with a comprehensive
literacy program that includes the five components.
 Structured way to provide literacy instruction
 Program that is aligned to meet North Carolina
standards
 Previous NC literacy standards
 Common Core State Standards
 http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/

4. Goals and Objectives Continued
 Provides instruction within thematic
units
 Spiraling format of teaching
 Mastery is not expected the first time
an objective is taught

5. Overview ofTraditionalTheory of
Curriculum
 Traditionalists use conventional wisdom
 Curriculum work is to provide a service to practitioners (teachers).
 Stems from a scientific approach, uses systematic lens to look at
curriculum. (Pinar, 1978)
 Straight forward, no nonsense method of planning curriculum
 “The end proceeds the means” (Eisner, 2002)
 Objectives should be clearly stated and measurable.

6. TraditionalTheory- Key People
 RalphW.Tyler
 Wrote Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction
 Worked to establish a rationale for analyzing and evaluating
curriculum as an instructional program used in educational settings.
 Uses four main questions to develop curriculum plan:
1. What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?
2. What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain
these purposes?
3. How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?
4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?
(Tyler, 1950)
 Objectives are key. They should be clearly stated and
measureable.

7. Analysis of Imagine It from a
Traditionalist Perspective
 Imagine It is comprehensive and helps to develop a literacy
focus within schools
 Imagine It uses a scope and sequence
 Each lesson has daily objectives that relate back to the scope
and sequence
 Imagine It uses benchmark assessment.
 Curriculum has been developed in a way that addresses
Tyler’s 4 essential questions.

8. Analysis of Imagine It from aTraditionalist
Perspective- Objectives from Daily Lesson Plan

9. Analysis of Imagine It from a
Traditionalist Perspective continued
 Thematic Units include topics such as- “Our Neighborhood at
Work” which creates implicit messages that literacy
correlates with good jobs.
 Scripted program includes texts are chosen by curriculum, do
not necessarily reflect diversity in experiences and lives of
students.
 Scripted phonics and fluency include primary focus on
decoding words. Students receive decodable books to go
with each lesson, these are meant only to practice decoding
and are not meant to be substantive in constructing
knowledge for students.

10. Evaluation of Program
 Objectives are specific, but not always measurable.
 Thematic Units rather than using skills as basis for teaching
 Scripted program meant to allow ease, but does not demand
on going critical thought from teachers or school curriculum
specialists.

11. Evaluation of Program Continued
 Overall the program follows the 4 essential questions
presented byTyler and has a logical sequence.
 Program focuses on subject matter based on skills and
students are given general knowledge of literacy.

12. Suggestions for Improvement
 Program starts with Kindergarten standards
 Rigor of the lessons
 More room for teacher input (scripted program)
 Improvements to the social studies and science components.
They are lacking critical thought, substance, and relation to
multicultural education
 Objectives should be measurable and assess mastery

13. References
 Eisner, E. W. (2002). The educational imagination: The three curricula
that all schools teach (p. 87). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
 National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of
Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards for
English language arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, and
technical subjects. Washington, DC: Authors.
 Pinar, W. F. (1978). The reconceptualization of curriculum
studies. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 10(3), 205-214.
 SRA/McGRaw-Hill. (2007). SRA Imagine It. Retrieved from
http://imagineitreading.com/NA/ENG_US/index.php
 Tyler, R. W. (1950). Basic principles of curriculum development. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 3(1),
65-70.