The rationale for Selecting this Rubric
Useful rubrics are aimed at fetching for and evaluating academic excellence (Tomas et al. 2019). Such rubrics are impactful because they aim at articulating the expected results from students across a uniform continuum of quality. The rationale behind my selection for this quality curriculum evaluation rubric revolves around its distinguishable characteristics that meet the standards of a conventional rubric. That is, the rubric describes the grounds for a wide array of testable parameters and their performance levels on distinguishable scales.
Criteria for choosing this Quality Curriculum Evaluation rubric to evaluate the HighScope Curriculum
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The criteria I deployed to choose my quality curriculum evaluation rubric to evaluate the HighScope curriculum was primarily informed by the type of curriculum that HighScope is. The curriculum is an entire preschool and infant-toddler curriculum as opposed to an individual lesson or a section of a learning program. HighScope curriculum covers areas like literacy resources, social-emotional learning, child assessment, family engagement, professional learning courses and resources, and daily routine, among others. Shallow quality evaluation rubrics cannot cover all these topics. The rubric I chose does not fall under the category of the shallow ones.
Quality Curriculum Evaluation of HighScope Curriculum
|
Components of Quality Curriculum |
Details |
Does not Meet |
Partially Meets |
Meets |
|
A process and tools for assessing student interests, learning styles, and self-directedness that: |
Provide a way for students to self-assess their learning styles | √ | ||
| Include strategies to guide students in taking responsibility for their learning | √ | |||
| Are part of the intake process | √ | |||
| Inform learning and instruction | √ | |||
|
A process and tools for assessing student prior knowledge that: |
Include a list of specifically defined pre-requisite skills | |||
| Include one or more assessments of current knowledge and skills needed for the specific content area | ||||
|
A standards-based content outline that: |
Is transparent | √ | ||
| Addresses the Maine Learning Results , Equipped For the Future and/or relevant national content standards | √ | |||
| Identifies the core content | √ | |||
|
Will take into consideration the purpose of learning by providing supplemental/enrichment topics that afford student choice and flexibility |
√ | |||
| Anticipates the requirements of post-secondary pursuits | √ | |||
|
Articulated learning outcomes that: |
A re based on the Maine Learning Results, Equipped For the Future and/or relevant national standards | √ | ||
| I nclude the appropriate levels of the cognitive domain (Bloom's Taxonomy | √ | |||
| Specify how the learning will be demonstrated and under what conditions | √ | |||
| Are tied to appropriate assessment strategies | √ | |||
|
Suggested instructional strategies that: |
Are learner-centered and inclusive of learner goals, interests and learning styles (purposeful) | √ | ||
| Require learner to build on prior knowledge and construct meaning (build expertise) | √ | |||
| A ssist the learner in developing skills through application for meaningful, authentic uses (contextual) | √ | |||
| A ddress the appropriate learning level(s) | √ | |||
| Allow for choice and flexibility | √ | |||
| Articulate meta-cognitive activity | √ | |||
| Include learner reflection and feedback | √ | |||
| Are multi-sensory | √ | |||
| Model appropriate and research-based "best practices" | √ | |||
| Include combinations of individual, small group, and large group instruction | √ | |||
| Make effective use of information and communications technology | √ | |||
|
Suggested assessment strategies that: |
Are transparent | √ | ||
| Are formative and summative | √ | |||
| Inform instruction and evaluation | √ | |||
|
Allow the learner to demonstrate his/her knowledge and skills in various ways and varying contexts (multiple measures) |
√ | |||
| Provide opportunity for learner involvement and self-assessment | √ | |||
| Monitor, d ocument , and certif y learner achievement | √ | |||
|
Suggested instructional resources that: |
Contain an annotated resource list with contact information | √ | ||
| Are screened for accuracy and authenticity | √ | |||
| Are relevant to the curriculum and cross-curricular when appropriate | √ | |||
| Are rich, varied, and derived from multiple sources | √ | |||
| Are age and skill-level appropriate (readability) | √ | |||
| Are multi-sensory | √ |
A summary of the evaluation of the HighScope Curriculum
Based on the evaluation above, the HighScope Curriculum meets the ideals of a suitable early childhood curriculum. Notably, the curriculum suits a 21 st -century child on multiple grounds. For instance, the classroom environment envisaged in this curriculum is child friendly and promotes learning at the same time. Specifically, the classrooms are organized in centers whereby the main centers are children-oriented arts like toys, books, computers, dramatic plays, picture words, among others.
Activities in the HighScope Curriculum
This curriculum is uniquely posited in the sense that it adopts a "plan, then do before reviewing" kind of learning process (Epstein & Schweinhart, 2018). Children are given a chance to plan on what is expected throughout work time. Teachers are at liberty to choose the most appropriate methods of allowing the children to plan their work. After work, the child is given a chance to reflect on the work they did. Later, the teacher assesses each child using the Child Observation Record (COR), whereby the records about every child are taken. The involvement of children in planning, working, and then reflecting their work depicts that the HighScope curriculum encourages the children to do everything they can with minimal assistance. This helps the child to grow intellectually.
Moreover, the HighScope curriculum encourages the hiring of teachers with early childhood training. Actually, the curriculum offers training as well (Epstein 7 Schweinhart, 2018). Teachers with proper childhood training are more productive in bringing the best out of children. That hypothesis is deduced from the fact that the more the people are educated, the more productive they become in their careers. In this case, more training acquaints the teachers with expertise to use the specific learning tools that the HighScope curriculum uses. Therefore, the relationship between teachers and the children is more engaging as opposed to some curriculum where the level of training of teachers is not critically emphasized.
The Quality Curriculum Evaluation Rubric Used
The quality curriculum evaluation rubric deployed to evaluate the HighScope curriculum is multifaceted and covers the main areas of assessing any curriculum. The details contained in the rubric are comprehensible and straightforward yet critical in assessing a curriculum. It provides specific instantiations that are relevant to good childhood curricula. Although the rating scale consists of only three items, the message in each category cannot be confused with the others. However, the scale could have been more deliberate if it contained more items. For instance, it could contain a 4-evaluative scale to accommodate an extra point of view regarding the HighScope curriculum.
References
Epstein, A. S., & Schweinhart, L. J. (2018). Educational tenets of the Highscope curriculum. International handbook of early childhood education , 1347-1377.
Tomas, C., Whitt, E., Lavelle-Hill, R., & Severn, K. (2019). Modelling holistic marks with analytic rubrics. In Frontiers in Education , (4), 84.
