Kentucky Department of Education

Introduction

"Please, sir, draw me a sheep." With these simple words the Little Prince initiates his relationship with the aviator in St. Exupéry's The Little Prince. The Little Prince's incessant demand of the pilot to draw a sheep is finally met with some feeble attempts. One sheep is too old, another too sick, and another won't do because it is a ram. Finally, in desperation the pilot hands the Little Prince a sketch of a box with three holes drawn in the side. "Here," he says, "the sheep that you want is inside." The Little Prince's face lights up, and he says that is exactly the sheep he needs.

 

The sheep, drawn by the aviator, required the Little Prince to use imagination and creativity to see his vision. So, too, Transformations: Kentucky's Curriculum Framework is a "sheep" that can be fully seen and realized only through the vision and leadership of the local school district, school personnel, and school councils. The main function of the framework is to help districts and schools design the curriculum they envision for their students.

 

The framework is designed for all students. While the student expectations are constant, the delivery mechanisms such as instructional strategies, resources, and amount of time will vary according to individual student needs.

Purpose

Transformations: Kentucky's Curriculum Framework is the response to the KRS 158.6451(4) which addresses the requirements of the curriculum framework. It "...shall provide direction to local districts and schools as they develop curriculum." A district's or school's curriculum should reflect local conditions, needs, and beliefs. It is not mandatory that this curriculum framework be used; however, it does offer assistance as local curricula are designed to meet the state's six learning goals and academic expectations. The document itself has undergone a transformation since its inception and will continue to change as KERA progresses.

 

What is curriculum?

 

The real curriculum is the one experienced by the student. It is, therefore, imperative that a written curriculum be a coherent, organized set of instructional opportunities which focuses on student learning. It must provide rich, engaging experiences connected to real-life situations.

What is a curriculum framework?

 

A framework presents parameters to assist in the development of curriculum. It is not a curriculum guide nor is it designed to be used as a tool for the delivery of instruction. It can serve as a major resource for the creation of districts' and schools' curricula, instruction, and performance assessments and for professional development.

 

Kentucky's Curriculum Framework

 

More than 100 teachers, counselors, administrators, regional service center consultants, and university personnel were significantly involved in the development of this framework. It is truly Kentucky's curriculum framework.

 

This document is designed to

•  provide direction to local teams of teachers, administrators, media/library specialists, students, parents, and community representatives as they develop curriculum unique to their districts and schools.

•  effect change by establishing capacity in districts and schools.

•  provide support as districts and schools plan and initiate activities that undergird the transformation process.

The curriculum framework is made up of two volumes which complement each other in the development of local curricula.

 

Volume I contains the goals, academic expectations, and their expansions. Each academic expectation has one or more accompanying pages that include the following:

•  Demonstrators are further definitions of the academic expectations which indicate student progress toward the outcome. Local curriculum writers may choose to delete, add to, or use these demonstrators in their entirety. Although the demonstrators are identified as appropriate for elementary, middle, and high school levels, they are not grade level specific. The demonstrators should be read from the bottom to the top of each column, but are not to be considered linear and need not be demonstrated sequentially. This structure was designed to reflect the student's growth toward the academic expectations throughout the educational experience.

•  Learning Links are ideas for making connections to real-life situations and other content areas.

•  Related Concepts are samples of topics and processes within the content areas; they are found only in Goal 2.

•  Teaching/Assessment Strategies are samples of techniques that might be used to transform classroom instructional/assessment practices.

•  Ideas for Incorporating Community Resources suggest resources available throughout Kentucky to extend the classroom beyond the school building.

•  Activities are suggestions which involve students in engaging instructional/assessment experiences. They are coordinated with the demonstrators and state assessments. In Goal 2, there are activities which show how the core concepts can be applied across the curriculum. Also, the "Variations on a Theme" show how a single theme may be woven through the content areas.

•  Reflections explain why the academic expectation is important for the students to achieve.

 

Volume II centers on the main processes which local districts and schools will use to develop curriculum and instruction that meet their needs. It includes models, samples, examples, and guides to enable school-based councils, teams of teachers, and other curriculum writers to turn their own vision into reality. Volume II contains the following sections:

•  Transforming the Learning Environment suggests ways in which the learning environment might be changed to foster sustained learning for all students and provides resources which address this aspect of curriculum development and instructional design.

•  Alternative Uses of School Time provides ideas and examples of changed school schedules and calendars. The ideas are based upon the premise that a school's schedule should be established around curricular needs, rather than around a calendar or clock.

•  Local Curriculum Development Guide suggests steps to follow as curriculum developers work through the processes of designing curriculum and instruction.

•  Bringing It All Together helps to answer the teachers' questions, "What do I do now?" It presents one teacher's response to the demands for changing classroom practices, such as implementing standards-based instruction, developing culminating performances, and designing scoring rubrics.

•  Resources identify teaching/assessment strategies, instructional and community re- sources, model-teaching sites, and key readings that will prove useful.

 

KERA Strands Support Transformation

As local curriculum committees and teams begin to develop curriculum, it is important that a holistic approach to instruction be used. Social, emotional, aesthetic, physical, and intellectual needs of students must be addressed in order to provide the optimum environment for learning.

 

The following components of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) ensure for each child equal educational opportunities that focus on preparing the whole child for life. These components of KERA stress the connections to the learning experiences of students.

•  Preschool programs support at-risk students by providing a curriculum to prepare them for success in primary school.

•  Primary School programs provide children with non-competitive classrooms using developmentally appropriate practices.

•  Kentucky's assessment program (KIRIS) reflects real-life learning experiences and holds districts/schools accountable for student learning.

•  Professional development of administrators and teachers is central to transforming the learning environment and is critical to the success of KERA.

•  Regional Service Centers are local, instructional resources for school districts and schools.

•  School-based councils composed of teachers, parents, and administrators share decision-making on issues affecting curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

•  Expanded technology (KETS) supports curriculum, assessment, and professional development; enhances communication; and facilitates administrative support services.

•  Extended School Services programs offer expanded learning opportunities for students.

•  Family Resource and Youth Service Centers support curriculum and instruction by addressing students' needs for physical and emotional wellness.

 

Transformations: Kentucky's Curriculum Framework is an evolving document. It will continue to be developed and refined as the implementation of KERA changes the way instruction is implemented and evaluated. To touch all children and facilitate effective instruction, open it, use it, and begin to transform the learning environment.

 

 

Kentucky's Learning Goals And Academic Expectations

 

The centerpiece of Kentucky's education reform effort is its vision of what students should know and be able to do as a result of their school experience. Every aspect of the reform movement is designed to promote student attainment of these goals and to measure our progress in helping them to do so.

Assumption underlying KERA

 

All students are capable of learning.

The expectations for students are set forth as the six learning goals of KERA. These goals led to the development of the academic expectations that characterize student achievement of the goals. All Kentucky students are expected to achieve the goals and academic expectations.

1. Students are able to use basic communication and mathematics skills for purposes and situations they will encounter throughout their lives.

1.1
Students use reference tools such as dictionaries, almanacs, encyclopedias, and computer reference programs and research tools such as interviews and surveys to find the information they need to meet specific demands, explore interests, or solve specific problems.
1.2
Students make sense of the variety of materials they read.
1.3
Students make sense of the various things they observe.
1.4
Students make sense of the various messages to which they listen.
1.5-1.9
Students use mathematical ideas and procedures to communicate, reason, and solve problems.
1.10
Students organize information through development and use of classification rules and systems.
1.11
Students write using appropriate forms, conventions, and styles to communicate ideas and information to different audiences for different purposes.
1.12
Students speak using appropriate forms, conventions, and styles to communicate ideas and information to different audiences for different purposes.
1.13
Students make sense of ideas and communicate ideas with the visual arts.
1.14
Students make sense of ideas and communicate ideas with music.
1.15 
Students make sense of and communicate ideas with movement.
1.16 
Students use computers and other kinds of technology to collect, organize, and communicate information and ideas. 

2. Students shall develop their abilities to apply core concepts and principles from mathematics, the sciences, the arts, the humanities, social studies, practical living studies, and vocational studies to what they will encounter throughout their lives.

 

Science

 

2.1
Students understand scientific ways of thinking and working and use those methods to solve real-life problems.
2.2
Students identify, analyze, and use patterns such as cycles and trends to understand past and present events and predict possible future events.
2.3
Students identify and analyze systems and the ways their components work together or affect each other.
2.4
Students use the concept of scale and scientific models to explain the organization and functioning of living and nonliving things and predict other characteristics that might be observed.
2.5
Students understand that under certain conditions nature tends to remain the same or move toward a balance.
2.6
Students understand how living and nonliving things change over time and the factors that influence the changes.

 

Mathematics

 

2.7
Students understand number concepts and use numbers appropriately and accurately.
2.8
Students understand various mathematical procedures and use them appropriately and accurately.
2.9
Students understand space and dimensionality concepts and use them appropriately and accurately.
2.10
Students understand measurement concepts and use measurements appropriately and accurately.
2.11
Students understand mathematical change concepts and use them appropriately and accurately.
2.12
Students understand mathematical structure concepts including the properties and logic of various mathematical systems. 
2.13 
Students understand and appropriately use statistics and probability.

 

Social Studies

2.14 
Students understand the democratic principles of justice, equality, responsibility, and freedom and apply them to real-life situations.
2.15
Students can accurately describe various forms of government and analyze issues that relate to the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a democracy.
2.16
Students observe, analyze, and interpret human behaviors, social groupings, and institutions to better understand people and the relationships among individuals and among groups.
2.17
Students interact effectively and work cooperatively with the many ethnic and cultural groups of our nation and world.
2.18
Students understand economic principles and are able to make economic decisions that have consequences in daily living.
2.19 
Students recognize and understand the relationship between people and geography and apply their knowledge in real-life situations.
2.20
Students understand, analyze, and interpret historical events, conditions, trends, and issues to develop historical perspective. 
2.21
(Incorporated into 2.16)

 

Arts and Humanities

2.22 
Students create works of art and make presentations to convey a point of view.
2.23
Students analyze their own and others' artistic products and performances using accepted standards.
2.24
Students have knowledge of major works of art, music, and literature and appreciate creativity and the contributions of the arts and humanities.
2.25
In the products they make and the performances they present, students show that they understand how time, place, and society influence the arts and humanities such as languages, literature, and history.
2.26 
Through the arts and humanities, student recognize that although people are different, they share some common experiences and attitudes.
2.27
Students recognize and understand the similarities and differences among languages.
2.28
Students understand and communicate in a second language. 

 

Practical Living

2.29
Students demonstrate skills that promote individual well-being and healthy family relationships.
2.30 
Students evaluate consumer products and services and make effective consumer decisions.
2.31 
Students demonstrate the knowledge and skills they need to remain physically healthy and to accept responsibility for their own physical well-being.
2.32
Students demonstrate strategies for becoming and remaining mentally and emotionally healthy.
2.33
Students demonstrate the skills to evaluate and use services and resources available in their community.
2.34
Students perform physical movement skills effectively in a variety of settings.
2.35
Students demonstrate knowledge and skills that promote physical activity and involvement in physical activity throughout lives.

 

Vocational Studies

2.36
Students use strategies for choosing and preparing for a career.
2.37
Students demonstrate skills and work habits that lead to success in future schooling and work.
2.38
Students demonstrate skills such as interviewing, writing resumes, and completing applications that are needed to be accepted into college or other postsecondary training or to get a job.

  

3. Students shall develop their abilities to become self-sufficient individuals.* 

 

3.1

Students demonstrate positive growth in self-concept through appropriate tasks or projects

3.2 

Students demonstrate the ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

3.3 

Students demonstrate the ability to be adaptable and flexible through appropriate tasks or projects.

3.4 

Students demonstrate the ability to be resourceful and creative.

3.5

Students demonstrate self-control and self discipline.

3.6

Students demonstrate the ability to make decisions based on ethical values.

3.7

Students demonstrate the ability to learn on one's ow

 

4. Students shall develop their abilities to become responsible members of a family, work group, or community, including demonstrating effectiveness in community service.*

 

4.1

Students effectively use interpersonal skills.

4.2 

Students use productive team membership skills.

4.3 

Students individually demonstrate consistent, responsive, and caring behavior.

4.4 

Students demonstrate the ability to accept the rights and responsibilities for self and others.

4.5

Students demonstrate an understanding of, appreciation for, and sensitivity to a multi-cultural and world view.

4.6

Students demonstrate an open mind to alternative perspectives.

 

*Goals 3 and 4 are included in Kentucky statute as learning goals, but they are not included in the state's academic assessment program.

 

5. Students shall develop their abilities to think and solve problems in school situations and in a variety of situations they will encounter in life.

 

5.1
Students use critical thinking skills such as analyzing, prioritizing, categorizing, evaluating, and comparing to solve a variety of problems in real-life situations.

5.2
Students use creative thinking skills to develop or invent novel, constructive ideas or products.

5.3
Students organize information to develop or change their understanding of a concept.

5.4
Students use a decision-making process to make informed decisions among options.

5.5
Students use problem-solving processes to develop solutions to relatively complex problems.

 

6. Students shall develop their abilities to connect and integrate experiences and new knowledge from all subject matter fields with what they have previously learned and build on past learning experiences to acquire new information through various media sources.

 

6.1

Students connect knowledge and experiences from different subject areas.

 

6.2

Students use what they already know to acquire new knowledge, develop new skills, or interpret new experiences.

 

6.3

Students expand their understanding of existing knowledge by making connections with new knowledge, skills, and experiences

 

The following components of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) ensure for each child equal educational opportunities that focus on preparing the whole child for life. These components of KERA stress the connections to the learning experiences of students.

 

•  Preschool programs support at-risk students by providing a curriculum to prepare them for success in primary school.

•  Primary School programs provide children with non-competitive classrooms using developmentally appropriate practices.

•  Kentucky's assessment program (KIRIS) reflects real-life learning experiences and holds districts/schools accountable for student learning.

•  Professional development of administrators and teachers is central to transforming the learning environment and is critical to the success of KERA.

•  Regional Service Centers are local, instructional resources for school districts and schools.

•  School-based councils composed of teachers, parents, and administrators share decision-making on issues affecting curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

•  Expanded technology (KETS) supports curriculum, assessment, and professional development; enhances communication; and facilitates administrative support services.

•  Extended School Services programs offer expanded learning opportunities for students.

 

•  Family Resource and Youth Service Centers support curriculum and instruction by addressing students' needs for physical and emotional wellness.

 Transformations: Kentucky's Curriculum Framework is an evolving document. It will continue to be developed and refined as the implementation of KERA changes the way instruction is implemented and evaluated. To touch all children and facilitate effective instruction, open it, use it, and begin to transform the learning environment.