AERO Certificate in Curriculum

Course title

Course description

Means of delivery

Three Required Courses (45 hours each):

EDU #670

Principles of Curriculum Design

Focuses on the four factors that frame an effective standards-based curriculum: content and value-rich issues; essential questions and enduring understandings; ongoing assessment that involves multiple measures, including performance tasks; and a student-centered, teacher-guided approach. Emphasis will be on the practical use of the AERO standards and benchmarks, and the backwards design method, in the development of units of instruction. Provides an overview of a school’s development process in moving from the adoption/adaptation of standards to a fully implemented standards-based curriculum.

AERO:SBC summer curriculum institute

June 20-25, 2010 at the Potomac School

EDF #611

Evaluation in Education 

This course provides instruction and practice in the effective design of "culminating assessment tasks" that both guide and cap units of instruction. Alignment to standards, clarity of purpose, and capacity of an assessment task to reveal student learning and feed teacher reflection will be considered. The course will also address the purpose and development of interim assessments that are used at various points during the teaching of a unit. Students will also consider the use of rubrics in the context of standards-based assessment.

Option 1: Pre-conference workshop (regional conference) followed by on-line instruction

Option 2: School-based weekend workshops and on-line or local instructor follow-up

Option 3: 2.5-day summer session plus on-line follow-up

EDU #604

Instructional Strategies for More Effective Teaching 

What does it mean to teach to a standard? What does a standards-based classroom look like? How do teachers "unpack" standards as they develop units of instruction? The course will examine the practical implication of the ideas of: student as an active learner, teachers as facilitators; depth and "uncoverage" versus breadth and "coverage," and addressing the needs of learners along a developmental spectrum.

Option 1: School-based workshop (after school for a week or weekend workshop) with on-line or local instructor follow-up

Option 2: 2.5 day summer session, plus on-line follow-up

Candidates choose one of the following options(as available) for their fourth course:

EDU #598

Special Topics: Evidence 2 Excellence

This course provides instruction and practice in the Evidence 2 Excellent ("E2E") process. E2E guides teachers in using student work to assess whether assignments are appropriate for reaching high standards and whether the assessment is effective in revealing success in learning the standard. Research on the effect of assessment quality on learning will be shared. Teachers will learn to use collegial dialogue to assess the quality and clarity of their teaching and make adjustments to their instruction and improve student performance.

Option 1: Pre-conference session at regional conference, plus on-line follow up

Option 2: Summer course at the Potomac School, summer 2006

EDL #630A Effective curriculum mapping in a standards-based school

This course is designed to introduce teachers to standards-based curriculum mapping. The participants will investigate some of the electronic curriculum mapping databases available and consider issues in school-wide mapping. Parent, teacher, administrative, and student-focused reasons to map a curriculum will be studied. By the end of the course, they will develop or refine a standards-based scope and sequence.

Option 1: School-based institute (week-long after school) with on-line or local instructor follow-up

Option 2: Pre-conference sessions with on-line follow-up

EDL #630B: Content-specific pedagogy

EDU #670, "Principles of Curriculum Design" is a pre-requisite for this course. Students will examine the instructional, assessment, and program planning issues germane to a specific content area. Course is available with a focus on English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. All courses are appropriate for grades preK through 12.

AERO:SBC advanced curriculum institutes

June 20-25, 2010 at the Potomac School