Voluntary Curriculum Framework

Teacher has written essential questions on the blackboard.

Voluntary Curriculum Framework

Pennsylvania does not mandate that districts, schools, or classrooms across the Commonwealth use the curriculum framework. The state has set the standards. It is up to educators like you to decide which components of the recommended curriculum will ensure that your students are academically successful.

Since the framework prepares students for the PSSA exams, many educators will use the framework as a basis for their instruction. In this way the Commonwealth has engineered a clever compromise between two diverse schools of thought, the need for rigid standards and the need for flexibility to adapt to student interests, differences, and academic needs.

According to Guhn (2009), what works in some educational environments does not necessarily work in all schools or classrooms. What is often lacking is knowledge about which processes contributed to successful implementation and sustainability of the successful interventions. Guhn elaborates:

A program that is too rigid in its prescribed practices, without allowing for adjustments according to a needs assessment, most likely will not be universally successful. Cultural and contextual differences between communities and schools require that the identified web of interdependent processes and theoretical principles are adapted into locally appropriate practices. (p. 358)

When deciding on what elements of the voluntary curriculum to employ, you need to consider the balance between the knowledge, understanding, and skills that every student must have and the knowledge, understanding, and skills that are important for individuals to be academically successful.

Can you find the answers to the essential questions in this course?

Why should teachers use the recommended curriculum framework?
How does Pennsylvania's curriculum framework benefit students?
What is the best way to create a curriculum framework that aligns with the standards?

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