A letter to educators from the Minister

From: "Education Minister" <edminister.update@gov.ab.ca>
Date: Mar 12, 2014 7:02 PM
Subject: Important Message from the Education Minister: Curriculum Redesign

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I am writing you today once again to ensure that you are aware of exciting developments in the education system that affect you.  First, let me take this opportunity to thank you for all of your great work and dedication to students.  The recent PISA study is a testament to your success.  In spite of recent criticism by some, let me assure you that our Premier and government are incredibly proud of educators like you that have made our education system one of the best performing in the world.  It has only become one of the best because of our commitment to continuous improvement and our embrace of global best practice and research.  The recently announced curriculum redesign is just one of those initiatives. However, it is clear to me that in spite of two years of collaborative work with the ATA, ASBA, CASS, ASCA, and business and industry, some questions remain about the joint approach that we are taking with curriculum redesign.  I would like to try and clarify for you the work that is underway and I also welcome your questions, comments and advice in relation to this initiative. I assure you that Alberta will not rush to implement changes to curriculum until parents and educators are confident that we have it right. As educators, parents, and administrators, it is our responsibility to ensure that our education system is continually evolving and putting students first. We must take stock of the world around us, at home and abroad, and determine how to best tailor the education system to meet the demands of a globally, interconnected economy. The world in which our students will soon enter is becoming increasingly competitive and demanding of new skills which, we have heard through conversations with Albertans, need to be better built into today’s curriculum. This is one of the reasons we are redesigning the curriculum to make it more responsive, more relevant and better suited to present and future realities. Some of our recent successes in education are reflective of these efforts, all of which aim to put students at the heart of the system. Teachers, like you, are leading the way in helping to effectively implement a number of innovative initiatives like the Dual Credit Partnerships Program, the High School Flexibility Program and the transition to digital and flexible Student Learning Assessments. You will remain a vital partner in any changes moving forward and we will continue to rely on your professional expertise as educators. As frontline education professionals, you know better than anyone else that each student learns differently and a one-size fits all approach to education is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Secondly, teachers have told me that the current curriculum is too packed and can force teachers to only scratch the surface of subject matter and limit an opportunity to impart the full scope of their knowledge.  You have also told me that a packed curriculum prevents teachers from having the time and space they need to individualize learning to better meet the needs of students. It can also stifle a teacher’s creativity, inhibiting the application of their full skillset.  And lastly, we also need to heed the concerns of parents and find ways to more strongly emphasize the foundational skills of numeracy and literacy. In order to address these shortcomings, while also developing a curriculum that prepares Alberta's students for the rigors of the modern world, we have endeavored to create a dynamic and holistic curriculum. The process by which we will do this is intended to be immensely collaborative and will rely on the dedication, skills and expertise of individuals like you. The redesign process is being led by a consortia of school boards who have committed to engage with classroom teachers, parents, the business community, FNMI and trustees from across the province. You should also be aware that the ATA has been on our government's Curriculum Advisory Committee for the past two years to represent you throughout the development of this process. Moving forward, the redesign will first yield draft curriculum prototypes that we will look to implement more broadly once they are ready. Although this process only recently got underway, I can tell you that our three main objectives are the following: ·         Better focus the curriculum on relevant and important learner outcomes. The current curriculum is too packed and has ballooned to over 1400 objectives; ·         More firmly embed the fundamentals - numeracy and literacy - throughout every subject and course offering to ensure better mastery of basic skills; and ·         Along with the fundamentals, more deliberately instill soft skills the economy and employers are demanding, such as problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, communication and entrepreneurialism. Furthermore, I wish to clarify what this process is not. Despite claims to the contrary, Alberta Education is not embracing or moving towards simply imposing so-called "discovery learning”.  Some have suggested that teachers will only be a partner in learning and learners will be completely self-directed.  I can tell you this is absolute rubbish.  Alberta, as you know, has already embraced inquiry-based learning, which is an approach that is well documented and the basis of significant scientific study. We know that methods used to reach each student are best determined by you as the professionals in the classroom. I encourage you to read more about inquiry-based learning by following this link: http://www.education.alberta.ca/teachers/aisi/themes/inquiry.aspx. Additionally, the redesign process is neither drastic nor radical. It is being done in a thoughtful, methodical and collaborative manner. No longer can educators take ten years to redesign a single subject at a time. We want teachers, parents, industry and students from the field to develop our prototypes.  We hope our new process will enable us to interweave and reinforce the application of the fundamentals in with 21st century competencies across all subjects. A successful redesign of the curriculum is integral to realizing the vision of Inspiring Education.  If you are unsure of what inspiring education is challenging us to do, please visit this link, which will take you to the introductory speech I delivered to the Inspiring Education Symposium on February 19th. I trust that you will find it informative and helpful.  As many of you are fielding questions on the curriculum redesign, I have also attached my opinion editorial which appeared recently in the Calgary Herald to the end of this email. I am also pleased to inform you that Cabinet recently approved the establishment of the Teacher Development and Practice Advisory Committee (TDPAC). This committee will be chaired by ATA President, Mark Ramsankar, and teachers will comprise half of the committee’s voting membership. The purpose of TDPAC is to advise the government on all matters affecting the teaching profession. I look forward to working with TDPAC to ensure that we’re constantly strengthening the teaching profession in Alberta.  In closing, I wish to express that I am excited to be working with you to help reach the highest possible level of student achievement in our province. Our world leading results are a testament to your hard work. The education system of the future - the system in which we are building on - will be cutting-edge, dynamic and student-centred.  The ethical citizens, engaged thinkers and entrepreneurial spirits of Inspiring Education will help shepherd Alberta further into the 21st century and will ensure our children are among the world’s best prepared to compete in a global economy.   Warm regards, Jeff Johnson Minister Alberta Education MLA for Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater

10 - Implementing High School Redesign

When I speak with people about anything new in education, I know very quickly whether they are angry or open to change.  There are many things in my school that frustrate me daily, so when I’m given the option to examine what works and what doesn’t, I brainstorm.

While curriculum redesign and the breadth of inspiring education has many aspects that need more thought by the province and its stakeholders, the high school flexibility program is simply offering a blank canvas to work on.

High School “Redesign”, as it is more widely known, rethinks the constraints of high school. In this post, I will look at some options that are more likely to be implemented in my high school, as well as some options I am hopeful of.

First, I think it’s UNLIKELY that scheduled FLEX BLOCKS  will be used since they have garnered a bit of negative feedback from pilot schools. The idea of shortening each class and then allowing students to choose where they need extra help is dangerous. Being realistic about what students will or won’t do (vs. should do) with an optional hour might save some headaches.

Okay, so what options do I think are possible?

1. The 25 hours per credit limit

We have a student at my school that taught himself Physics 30 over the summer, just for fun. He still needed to spend 125 hours in a Physics class to earn credits, so we could earn funds. Overall, I could make an argument that we wasted some of his time.

The 25 hours per credit rule is becoming more of a game-changer than I expected. Students that are able to master concepts in less time than peers, may not need the 125 hours that we force them to take. This opens the door to more options than just the high-flyer, though. Perhaps courses are taught together:

•           teach Science  14/24 together in one semester.
•           Phys. Ed 10/CALM 20  together in one semester.
•           Teach Math 30-1/31 in a full morning (Copernican-style). Why not finish early because of overlap in concepts?  The diplomas will be offered early anyway.

It is well known that courses like Chem 30 and Science 14 may not require the same amount of time to master. If teachers are capable of completing two similar courses at once, why not?

2. ADLC

Our students must follow a strict attendance policy. Sometimes these students that don’t function well in a classroom environment become chronic behavior concerns. When these students are realized, the last resort is for them to go to an outreach school.

Perhaps a new department is created where we offer distance learning to students, but in our building. These students would have the flexibility of working in a common-area designated for this setting and completing modules as they normally would at the outreach school. Since we don’t care about how many (or what) courses students take (funding is based on a head-count), what matters most is that we can provide students the opportunity to learn in a way that is best for them. We can, and should offer this flexibility to our students. 

3. A Five or Six block day (needs more thought)

The current 4-block day could switch to an (up-to) six day block – add a block before school and one after. Not all student function well at 8:30 am. Also, some students/teachers might want to get their courses done early and end the day by 1:45! Re-imagining the blocks could change  post-work lives.

4. Calendar change

There are a few options here. Imagine aligning the calendar with post-secondary simply by shifting everything by a month. Diplomas make more sense and the farming-reason for not starting in August is becoming less common.

More radically (my thoughts), imagine a trimester system.  4-month compressed semesters not only allow teachers to work part-time, or choose any 2 to work, but could also allow students to finish high-school early.

9 - Diplomas

I found the idea of entrance exams (like SATs) hugely enticing. It makes sense that Engineering should have a different exam than Sociology. Changing the world of post-secondary nation-wide might be tough though. 

With shifting PATs to SLAs (Student Learning Assessments), one might question the future of diplomas.  The impression I get is that they are not going anywhere - if anything, they are going bigger.

I've listed 4 main things that I found interesting about the diploma's future:

1. More writing times -

Diplomas are already offered in more than January/June. The current schedule shows January, April, June, August, November. "Inspiring Education describes an education system where flexibility and discretion at the local level is the norm. Therefore, beginning this school year (2013–14), most students requiring accommodations will be able to have those accommodations approved at the local level". The ability for schools/boards to offer diplomas at different dates will allow the high school flexibility (redesign) to rethink the calendars.

I've already heard "rumblings" of my district rethinking our calendar model for 2015/16. I have also hear rumors that in 2016, December may host diploma exams as well. Will this allow schools to sync up with post-secondary?

2. Digital offering

Regardless of more writing times, there's more on the way. 

"Testing of the digital exams will begin in 2014. The province plans on having all diploma exams offered electronically by the fall of 2017. Students will still be able to write exams on paper if they want."

This might assist in Alberta Education offering exams more often...I also know that student's personal devices have already been tested in a "locked-down" mode. 

3. Digital marking

"Piloting of electronic diploma exams, including the use of an online system and digital marking, is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2014." 

There has been lots of research done in AES (Automated Essay Scoring) like LightSide. A number of open-source projects are still in the works, but an impartial digital marker is said to be as accurate as the human touch. Feel free to look into it more, but it's crazy to think that extended response questions could be marked digitally (in part).

Sometimes it is tough for a person to give a 0% or a 100%. A computer knows that if you're a zero, you are a zero.

4. Curricular Shift

"Diploma exams will also be reviewed as provincial curriculum changes to focus on competencies and preparing young Albertans to be engaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit."

 Does this mean a shift from outcome-based assessments? I have no idea. Perhaps cross-curricular diplomas may be expected? It's easy to anticipate more of a focus on competencies, but how this will look will require more time. I'm not even sure if Alberta Education knows the diplomas true fate. What will post-secondary say? Will they respond with entrance exams? My guess is not likely.

8 - Who's right?

In grade 11, I teach my students how to complete the square - a process in quadratic functions which allows them to determine the max/min location on a parabola. This specific outcome is a process which will likely be forgotten by most students by grade 12. If questioned, I would tell my students that they may never complete the square in their life ever again, but the skills learned in the process are valuable.

If I were downtown and asked some business executives to write a math 30-1 exam, how many do you think will remember the specific outcomes and processes to pass the test? Not many. If my argument, even now, is that the skills are the most important thing, it makes sense to focus on them.

My comments above are opposite of the views of David Staples. At the heart of his discussions are a hate for "new math"; then he learned about curriculum redesign and now it's a bigger deal. 

WHO IS RIGHT?
Okay, do I agree with David Staples' argument about scrapping 21 century learning? No. Do I think the province is implementing 21st century learning properly? No. Are both sides needed? Yes.

In society, we need extremes. The conservatives keep us at our center, and groups like Greenpeace force us to REALLY question our values. We need both sides - and in education, both sides have valid points that have us talking. The talking part is good. The philosophy in 21st century learning is that education should focus on creating well-rounded students instead of students with the ability to complete the square like a little calculator can do (and a bunch of other outcomes)

If I could build students with character and competencies, I would love to - Sign me up. Let's build a generation with empathy and communication, and problem solving, and environmental awareness, etc., because I know the values a lot of my students have are misguided. Let's work on "character education". Maybe we should call it that instead of a focus on competencies - it sounds more positive.

The AISI cycles have been working towards this for a number of years. Why then, are my students' punching 7 x 1 into a calculator? Or saying 1/2 + 1/2 = 2/4 and thinking it's all good?

First, the province needs to know that students have changed dramatically, even in the last 5 years. Many people that have been implementing changes haven't been in a classroom in 10 - 15 years. I am very much hoping that the curriculum prototyping addresses some of these concerns and that people on the front lines do their duty in understanding our audience. Currently, most students are not innately driven with a thirst for knowledge and that is sad. To expect 15-year old  students to take control of their entire learning portfolio can be dangerous. This is what assessment, curriculum redesign, high school redesign, etc. are working towards (student-focused learning).

I do not have the answers, and that is why I'm not changing a province's entire system. I just hope that the people that ARE implementing a province-wide change, understand their audience: parents, students, teachers. They need to communicate clearly what needs to happen, as poor implantation of a good idea becomes a bad idea. There are approximately 35 000 teachers in Alberta - that will be expecting to radically change their entire profession. You can't do this in a couple media releases.

If the province wants the system-shift to work, they will need to give unbelievably large amounts of time and PD to support this endeavor. They can't expect it to work if teachers create the province's vision on weekends. 

It's sales - the province needs to sell a product to hundreds of thousands of people. BE CLEAR. Don't let it be misinterpreted. Then, the province will need to deliver its product and support its staff. If people like David Staples can sell a different product better, no one will buy 21st century learning.

7 - Best Math Practices

Would you mark a student wrong for their spelling on a test?

Clearly that is an open-ended question and in an English/L.A. class, probably. Well - what if this was a math test and student was asked to explain how to add fractions? Would you still deduct marks for spelling denominator incorrectly? (if the outcome is to add fractions)

What if a student uses a clock analogy to explain how to add fractions that their tutor showed them (1/4 plus 1/4 is one-half of an hour) and the next day, was told that it was not the prescribed way that they learned in class, and so it was marked incorrect?

I am told that both of the above scenarios happened. Part of me is not surprised. 

Math. Just using the "m"-word in certain circles could start a fight. Whether it is PISA (international assessment) results, comments from post-secondary professors, parent-initiated petitions, etc., the newer style of learning math is very controversial right now. People either love or hate it - it seems polarizing and there is a growing hatred, even in the media (David Staples). 

I'm going to make a bold statement: In my opinion, I think math should make sense. (clearly that sentence should be safe in any room) The entire goal of the new philosophy was to ensure students don't only know a prescribed formula for math processes - they should understand why things work and have a deeper understanding. If that makes sense....then maybe the issue is with implementation. If a teacher interprets new math as a need to learn by many methods instead of one that makes sense, could misinterpreting a philosophy be the biggest danger to our students? 

If I explain to students WHY the method below works, instead of just learning the process, shouldn't that be sufficient?  Again, math is supposed to make sense.

If I forced a student to learn three different ways and grade them on all of them, I don't think that is making things any more clear. The intent of the new philosophy is for students to find a way that works for them. If the approach above works, use it. If a number of students struggle THEN let's move on and try something else.

NEW VS OLD : The battle

My wife is an elementary teacher, and it is almost a faux-pas to do "mad minutes" (timed drills to encourage memorization of multiplication tables). WHAT?! Why?! Why is being able to recall numbers so terrible that we needed to abolish that practice?

I WANT  NEED my students in grade eleven to answer "8 times 6" by heart. Not all of them can. Because of this, scaffolding concepts like factoring becomes a struggle.

Why don't we simply incorporate understanding with recall? I want my students to know 8 times 6 by heart AND know what it means. Instead, it has become new math vs old math. One or the other. Let's add "inquiry" and "discovery" into the system that created us. Don't let anyone say it is one or the other. It should not be a battle.

I'm not against any philosophy of trying to make math make sense. I'm not 100% happy with how it math is going either. My student's lack of confidence as they type 7 x 1 into their calculator at 16-years of age is evident of that. 

Maybe we need to stop thinking that everything needs to be polarized. New vs. Old.  Good vs. Bad. Maybe all that matters is how well we implement and execute. 

6 - Competencies for the 21st Century Learner

Competencies for the 21st Century Learner is what drives Inspiring Education. I first saw the following imagine on twitter and people seemed pretty excited to re-"tweet" it.

It feels like a lot of the AISI themes that have been a priority in recent years are at the core of competencies. Even the navigation (on the right side) of Alberta Education's website for this topic of competencies has these themes:

Okay, so what are these competencies? The following graphic is what you are guaranteed to see again and again and again in the next few years. The "three-Es" are the guiding traits students are expected to graduate with. How students achieve these is through all center items (creativity, communication, collaboration, etc.)

In my opinion, I very much understand the focus on competencies. I would love to focus on my student's character traits and build our next generation. My biggest question is in regards to assessment. Will our assessments still be measuring outcomes like we do now? Or will "gradebook" primarily assess things like communication and collaboration? How do I make a math test using factoring as a vehicle to grade communication? 

I look forward to seeing what the curriculum prototyping creates and how people are assessing competencies. I certainly don't know how an outcome-based course like math or science will do it, so I hope someone out there is thinking outside the box.

5 - Remember the Bubble?

At the time of contract negotiations, there were feelings of fear and an overwhelming pressure that we needed to sign the "deal" or else...

The four-year contract that was offered included a three-year wage freeze, followed by a two per cent increase in 2015 and a one per cent cash bonus in the final year (that we never received because we were legislated back)

CBC article

For taking the wage freeze, we mainly got a C2 work study out of it. This is the current workload study being done which examines what the job of a teacher entails. What I find a bit entertaining, is that by the time C2 is complete and a proposal is made, the entire study will be outdated. Remember that whole "Inspiring Education" thing where "everything is changing". Maybe we will get another study in 2016?

(update - The Task Force for Teaching Excellence will issue its report by mid-March of 2014. )
Regardless, we understood on the government side that oil was 'tanking' and that the the province had no money to offer. So we "accepted" a FOUR-year deal legislation. 


ALL ABOUT OIL

The Alberta government came up with the term "bitumen bubble" to explain how it was likely to lose almost $6 billion in royalty revenues. Later news articles would eventually talk about a "burst" as prices started to rise.


What was this bubble that changed everyone's lives? I am glad you asked!

First Energy posts a number of oil prices. Specifically:

- Western Canada Select (WCS)       <--local "lower-grade" oil
- West Texas Intermediate (WTI) <--American "higher-grade" oil

"Canadian producers (WCS) have been suffering through a prolonged period of discounted domestic prices because of oil export bottlenecks that often cause an oversupply."

This differential between WTI and WCS, as it is called, is bad.

How bad, you might ask? From Baytex, I grabbed some historical values and did some fancy excel work. Click on it to enlarge:

At the time of writing this, the WTI price is $102.59 and the differential is 26.68.

Essentially, a large grey "differential" value is not good. The higher the grey line, the more our oil is discounted. The bitumen bubble alarms peaked at the red vertical line, around December 2012. What stands out is how much it has ALWAYS fluctuated. Just after the red line, look at how our WCS price rebounded (and then fell again).

Many people questioned the forecasting because Alberta's 2012 budget was based on the forecasted WTI price at $99.25/barrel. This is the green line. Around the time of the bubble, we were selling a devalued product (represented by the differential) like has happened repeatedly in the past. I'm not sure how much I agree, but the entire variability of our government revenues seems strange.


IN RECENT NEWS

Alberta Budget Moves Towards Surplus
This article is from February 26th, 2014 . 

"Higher oil prices, strong tax revenues and the weakening Canadian dollar have helped the Alberta government move its current operating budget toward a year-end surplus."

I know many teachers paychecks have actually decreased because of a new gov't pension reform policy and increased union fees when combined with the James Bond-like 0002. It stings a bit seeing how variable that chart above is. Within half-a-year of the "bubble", oil prices rose up to above-forecasted levels, even if they have dipped back down since.

Four years is a long time.

4 - Dual Credit Strategy

If you are still new to teaching an haven't yet realized - schools are businesses and our finances govern our decisions. Boundary exemptions, credit recovery, student release forms - even the competition for students itself adds pressure on a system that I still hope has student's best interests at its core. Some days the politics get taxing.

I've already come to understand that credits are not as simple as "x" number of dollars for each credit a student earns. I understand that CTS and special education may receive a different dollar value that an academic course - understandable. In elementary, it is day 1 that starts the funding model.

As a reminder about High School Redesign....It's funding model, I have been told, has also changed from the current system. I will have the opportunity to explore this further, but it also intends to offer students the chance at "recovering credits" in courses that they may have barely failed (instead of redoing an entire semester). BUT, the Dual Credit Strategy is different.

The Dual Credit Strategy is partnering with many facets to given students credit or hours towards post-secondary (not just college/univ.) . I currently hold the title of Advanced Placement Coordinator, which at its core, is doing university in high school. It is quite a process to build the program, but students at my school can get credit in university Calculus/Biology/Physics/Comp Sci/English/Stats/History/Chemistry. Imagine the cost-savings and lessened-workload.

The idea the Alberta Education seems to be working on is bigger than just some specific university courses. It sounds like we are talking about the trades/industry/business AS WELL AS post-secondary.

It is supposed to:

- engage students in their learning through pathways that open their possible futures;- motivate students to finish high school;- inspire students to learn, work and live in the local community; and- give students the confidence to transition from high school to post-secondary and/or the workplace

I could imagine this is a large undertaking because the opportunities after high school are not a concise list. BUT (as of February 26):

"The first application intake for the Strategy is now complete. To date, nine applications have been approved for funding. These successful applications are allowing for dual credit opportunities across the province in the areas of agriculture, business and entrepreneurship, computing science, esthetics, tourism and hospitality, natural resources and environmental science, oil and gas, and tourism and hospitality. Another 18 applications have been conditionally approved. "

It sounds like industry and business are starting to sign up. There's a VERY specific and lengthy document for these partners to look at, but for the most part, I think I have explained the core idea behind the Dual Credit Strategy.

If nothing else, it is patting my school on the back for its continued work in Advanced Placement since 1991.

3 - Curriculum Redesign

"The vision of Inspiring Education is transformation. All students are inspired to achieve success and fulfillment as the “Three Es”: engaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit."

Other than Competencies for the 21st Century Learner, Curriculum Redesign was one of the first aspects of Inspiring Education that I heard about. At the time, I thought it would be a philosophy that would be implemented into each "timeline-staggered" course when each new curriculum came about -a "wading" into the shallow end, of sorts. I was mistaken. We are looking at 2016 as a potential entrance into the deep end of the pool.

[UPDATE: 2016 is not a fixed  date of implementation. 2020 was mentioned as even possible, depending upon how "learning" goes.]

The key wording that I find explains the breadth of impacts of curriculum redesign is:

"Alberta Education is revising provincial curriculum, which includes programs of study, assessments, and learning and teaching resources, as well as the processes for developing these components of curriculum."

Alberta Education's tagline "everything is changing" appears to be present, once again. The following graphic below shows up on many of the websites, and is fairly clear on the overall shifts that they are looking for:

I see things like a shift to digitally based resources, which makes sense considering the LRC's recent "shift". For a lengthy time, we have always had a single authorized resource - does this parallel encyclopedias in the classroom? I understand the logic in moving away from that, though it is very comforting having and "all-knowing" textbook.

The other idea that stands out above, is "more student focused". In a previous post, I even eluded to references of "student-lead" parent-teacher interviews. It's putting more responsibility on the student.  (It's hard right now to not see it all as putting more responsibility on the teacher, but I'll ty to be open-minded in my quest.) I get a very STRONG impression that education should be tailored to each individual student. How that will be feasible, will be interesting. I know that Outreach programs have been doing that for years.

The key theme, though, that stares back at me is the continued idea of a decentralized education (as I have eluded to before) - more local decision-making in regards to curriculum and structure. It feels like teachers won't be expected to come up with their own curricula - more likely, school boards (in partnership with the province). More information to come later on this topic under the "prototyping" heading.

The last comment in the chart above will become another post later....and it's big one. A Focus on Competencies. Our outcomes will be the vehicles to students becoming the "three-Es" (outside edge of graphic below). Specifically, the competencies that a 21st Century Learner should have:

I have lots that I could talk about in terms of competencies and assessment and how this vehicle may operate, but I will save that for another time. Curriculum Redesign is a more broad concept to look at before I get too carried away with this one facet.

As a math teacher, I see difficulty in assessing things like creativity and communication and entrepreneurial spirit when I have been grading students on specific outcomes for so long. I understand that our curriculum is going to shift in many ways, so I anticipate the results of anyone willing to "test" curriculum redesign. 

What I was surprised to find, was this is "testing" is underway and is called Curriculum Development Prototyping.



CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROTOTYPING

In August 2013, Alberta Education invited publicly funded school authorities to collaborate with the ministry in developing aspects of new Kindergarten to grade 12 provincial curriculum through a Request for Proposals (RFP).

This prototyping (field testing and curriculum creation) begins early in 2014 and is slated for completion in December 2014. After that, the curriculum development work will continue in the ministry with a target of having competency-focused and digitally based curriculum developed by March 2016.

[update: again, 2020 has been a date also mentioned. There is no fixed timeline for implementation.]

Take a moment and reread that last paragraph. It implies many things and begs many more questions from me. What things stand out for you?

CURRICULUM REDESIGN TIMELINE

(update Feb 28/14: The Department of Education has now announced the results of its ­curriculum prototyping project and is contracting out the development of most of Alberta’s program of studies to the Calgary Board of Education, in conjunction with about 22 other partners, including business and industry. )

In curriculum redesign, Alberta Education sees six subject/discipline areas (Arts Education, Language Arts [English, French Language Arts, Français], Mathematics, Social Studies, Sciences, Wellness) that will are differentiated. Prototyping (partners), for each discipline area, will:

− Develop draft K–12 Scope and Sequences;
− Identify classroom-based assessments and/or develop draft classroom-based assessments; 

− Identify learning and teaching resources and/or develop draft learning and teaching resources; and

− Develop a draft graphic organizer to illustrate the relationship among literacy, numeracy, the cross-curricular competencies and the subject/discipline areas

The Alberta Education has released is their Prototyping guide which is intending to explain how their current prototyping works.  (Q and A about protyping - not a bad document)


IN SUMMARY

It appears that there will a K-12 shift in curriculum. David Staples is a writer for the Edmonton Journal and has been very opinionated on the Math "issues" as of late and has a story in regards to the curriculum redesign. He's not impressed.

It will be very interesting to see how things go this year for schools prototyping because it's not JUST curriculum testing - it sounds like curriculum creation. Everything from assessments to outcomes to competencies is examines. Even after researching as much as I could, I still have many questions. 

• Why isn't curriculum redesign more clear?
• Is curriculum still in the hand of gov't ? (just getting input from local stakeholders?) [update: yes]
• How will curriculum/assessments look if it is competency-based? 
• Will diplomas be affected if we are testing outcomes as a "means to an end"? [update: it is very possible they will be affected.]
• (many more)

I encourage you to talk to leaders, colleagues, stakeholders, etc. to find out more. Answer my questions below or on twitter @MrLemko. The more we understand inspiring education, the more prepared we will be (and hopefully less afraid).

2 - High School Redesign

High School Redesign was first discussed at a coordinators meeting with my current principal as "it is coming - we need to decide what we want it to be". I decided to start my research with High School Redesign as it is nearest in my timeline.

(update: I have learned that the credit-model in many of these redesigned schools is different)

THE HSFEPP

The High School Flexibility Enhancement Pilot Project (HSFEPP) sounds like a fancy acronym. I personally don't think it is as catchy as SOH CAH TOA, but it's still better than ROFL, so I'll give it a 6/10.

In short form, High School Redesign is/was explored in the HSEPP.

It speaks of approximately 16 schools across the province already piloting an initiative at fundamentally shifting the way a high school looks/operates and 11 schools that were granted an exemption of the 25-hour credit requirement. (results REPORT from 02/21/2013)

"Beginning September 2013, 96 schools will embark on a journey to bring to life the vision and policy shifts articulated in Inspiring Education and build on the learnings of the High School Flexibility Enhancement Pilot Project and other High School Completion projects."

How do I Redesign my High School?

Whoa whoa...Let's back things up here and simplify things. It looks like the question we are trying answer is: What is High School Redesign? It seems like to best interpret this, maybe I'll approach it with perhaps a better question: "What should a High School look when it is most effective?" Alberta Education approaches things very much from a "student-centered" perspective.  Students lead their learning, but will be accountable with choice and flexibility.

Regardless, we are not told what exactly what all High Schools need to look like - only that there are some "key areas of focus that have been guiding the work of many of the participating schools." Among these areas of focus are:

Flex block - a block of time in the school day or school week when students have the opportunity to make decisions to guide their learning in areas of need or interest.

Credit recovery - an opportunity for students to continue their progress in a particular course beyond the scheduled semester, rather than awarding them a failing grade and having them retake the course.

Teacher advisory - each teacher in the school takes on a role outside any subject content responsibility. The teacher-advisor role is one of guide, counselor and facilitator to a small group of students' entire school program.

Interdisciplinary and project-based coursework - many participating schools are redesigning curricula to enhance student engagement by combining outcomes from several programs and assessing progress through project-based activities.

Many pilot schools are implementing changes in practice brought about by a re-thinking of their work including:

- the establishment of student-led conferences with parents, teacher advisors and students.

- a school-wide focus on assessment practices that align with student-centered and learning-centered approaches to grading and reporting.

- the development of team-teaching approaches within and across subject areas.

- the use of focus groups and student advisory councils to ensure student voice is heard and valued.

One school already worked with Alberta Education to create a couple videos on Inspiring Education's youtube channel to create a couple videos (as seen above).


OPINIONS PEOPLE HAVE DISCUSSED

Inspiring Education appears to be looking to decentralizing many of its operations; because of this, the options should be vast. At times, it's hard not to think negatively that Alberta Education isn't just passing the workload on teachers, saying "we couldn't get it right - now you try". I'll try my best to be positive and think from the perspective that if I am proactive and involved, I can help form our student's education in a way I think is best (whatever that is).

One idea I heard (from my principal) was to strip an 85-minute block into 65 minutes. Collect a few of those blocks and create an hour-long flex block where students could prioritize their time to specific areas of need.  

Another second idea was in regards to "credit recovery" and using flex time to catch students up on courses that they were unsuccessful in, but were close. An extension of this is to approach math units as modules and properly sort students based on modules instead of a final grade. Flex time might also allow students to "catch-up" on units that they did not pass. 

While I've only had a few discussions with other teachers, so far there are some things to think about: team teaching, better sorting of students into math streams, flex blocks, etc. In March, I will have the opportunity to visit a school in Edmonton Public (McNally) already beta-testing the idea and to ask some questions. I have many questions. 

This AB Education site has some VIDEOS to check out. Keep in mind they are all from the voice of Alberta Education.