A 3 page consideration of the processes through which curriculum and methodology should be chosen. This paper asserts that the principle of converging evidence can be used to make these choices. Bibliography lists 1 source.
Name of Research Paper File: AM2_PPedResearchBasedCurriculum.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
extensive reform in a number of areas. Curriculum choices have been a particular focus. Deciding which curriculum and instructional methodology to utilize is often a complicated process.
In addition to meeting state frameworks, curriculum and teaching methodology should be both captivating and detailed in its presentation. There is an overwhelming variety of choices of curriculum alone
on the market, however. Making a choice on the basis of a particular curriculums effectiveness is obviously prudent. So too is choosing a teaching methodology on the basis
of effectiveness. Demonstrating this effectiveness is a requirement, in fact, for both standards-based education reform and assessment-based reform. A teacher might be confused, however, as to what specifically
constitutes evidence of effectiveness. Stanovich and Stanovich state that the principle of converging evidence is applied in situations requiring a judgment about where a preponderance of evidence points and
progress is consequently obtained by convergence upon conclusions. Stanovich and Stanovich point out that while assessment-based reform (i.e. demonstrating student progress
and tying that progress to curriculum and teaching methodology via test results) is important, there are two additional ways to demonstrate curriculum and teaching effectiveness. These are research-based evidence
in the professional literature and, what Stanovich and Stanovich (1), refer to as "reason-based practice". Stanovich and Stanovich (1) emphasize that reason-based practice should converge with research demonstrating effectiveness
that is found in the professional literature. While Stanovich and Stanovich (2) do not discount the importance of testing to demonstrate
teaching effectiveness, they contend that testing is contextually sensitive, i.e. the outcome can be the product of a number of factors not just the instructional methodology or the curriculum that