Developing the curriculum chapter 13

CHAPTER 13:
EVALUATING THE CURRICULUM
Developing the Curriculum
Eighth Edition
Peter F. Oliva
William R. Gordon II

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e.
© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
13-2
AFTER STUDYING THIS CHAPTER YOU
SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
• Describe several processes for evaluating the
curriculum.
• Explain the major features of at least two models of
curriculum evaluation.
• Describe how one or more models of curriculum
evaluation can be used by curriculum planners.
• Select and apply a model of curriculum evaluation.
• Describe eight principles of curriculum construction
and explain their significance to curriculum planners.

13-3
CLARIFICATION OF TERMS
• Educational Evaluation, encompasses all kinds of
evaluations that come under the aegis of the
school. It includes evaluation not only of curriculum
and instruction but also of the grounds, buildings,
administration, supervision, personnel,
transportation, and so on.

13-4
• Instructional evaluation, discussed in Chapter 12,
is an assessment of:
○ The pupils’ achievement
○ The instructor’s performance
○ The effectiveness of a particular approach or
methodology

13-5
• Curriculum evaluation includes instructional
evaluation. Curriculum evaluation also goes well
beyond the purposes of instructional evaluation into
assessment of the program and related areas.

13-6
PURPOSES AND PROBLEMS OF
CURRICULUM EVALUATION
• Problems in Evaluation
○ Many concede that one place where we are
vulnerable in education is in evaluating the
programs we have already instituted.
○ Careful evaluation can be very complicated. It
requires know-how on the part of the evaluators
and, therefore, training in evaluation.

13-7
DELIMITING EVALUATION
• Some instructors and curriculum planners believe
that assessing the achievement of instructional
objectives constitutes curriculum evaluation;
however, instruction and curriculum are not the
same.
• Instructional evaluation may reveal that pupils are
achieving the instructional objectives. On the other
hand, unless we evaluate the curriculum—the
programs—we may be effectively teaching the
wrong things.

13-8
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EVALUATION
AND RESEARCH
• Evaluation is a continuous process by which data are
gathered and judgments made for the purpose of
improving a system. Thorough evaluation is essential
to curriculum development.
• Evaluation is perceived as a process of making
judgments, whereas research is perceived as the
process of gathering data as bases for judgments.

13-9
• A variety of models have been developed showing
the types of evaluation that schools should carry
out and the processes they should follow.
• The most fundamental approach to curriculum
evaluation—one that must be taken regardless of
other supporting approaches—is the assessment
of achievement of the specified curriculum
objectives.
EVALUATION MODELS

13-10
ASSESSMENT OF GUIDING PRINCIPLES
OF CURRICULUM CONSTRUCTION AND
ORGANIZATION
• Eight concepts that present perennial or continuing
problems are considered in this book. Each is
presented as a guiding principle to which
curriculum workers must give attention.

13-11
THE EIGHT CONCEPTS OF
EVALUATION
• Eight concepts that present perennial or continuing
problems are:
1. scope
2. relevance
3. balance
4. integration
5. sequence
6. continuity
7. articulation
8. transferability

13-12
EIGHT CONCEPTS (CONTINUED)
• An evaluation process cognizant of these
problems would provide answers to such
questions as:
○ Is the scope of the curriculum adequate
○ Is the curriculum relevant?
○ Is there balance in the curriculum?
○ Is curriculum integration desirable?
○ Is the curriculum properly sequenced?
○ Is there continuity of programs?
○ Are curricula well articulated between levels?
○ Are learnings transferable?

13-13
SCOPE
• Scope is the breadth of the curriculum—the “what.”
• The major task in planning the scope of the
curriculum is selection of content, organizing
elements, organizing centers, or integrative
threads from the wealth of possible choices.

13-14
RELEVANCE
• Relevance is the usefulness of content to the
learner.
• Relevance, like beauty, is in the eyes of the
beholder. Curriculum planners must deal first with
perceptions of relevance before they can deal with
the question of relevance itself.
• A consensus of the opinions of the various
constituencies and patrons of the school should be
sought by curriculum workers.

13-15
BALANCE
• The term “Balance” has a variety of meanings and
can be used to describe the structure of the
curriculum as well as meeting the needs to the
learner.
• Curriculum planners should strive for balance among
a number of variables. When a curriculum gives
excessive attention to one dimension or to one group
and ignores or minimizes attention to others, the
curriculum may be said to be out of balance and in
need of being brought into balance.

13-16
INTEGRATION
• Integration, in the context of a curriculum
construction concept, means the blending, fusion,
or unification of disciplines.
• A fully integrated curriculum tears down barriers
between disciplines and fuses disciplines under
overarching themes or topics.

13-17
SEQUENCE
• Sequence is the order in which the organizing
elements or centers are arranged by the curriculum
planners. Attention must be paid to prerequisite
learning requirements.
• Whereas scope is referred to as “the what” of
curriculum organization, sequence is referred to as
“the when.”
• Sequence answers the questions of when and where
the focal points will be placed

13-18
CONTINUITY
• Continuity is the planned repetition of content at
successive levels, each time at an increased level
of complexity. Planning a curriculum for continuity
requires a high degree of expertise, which
demands both knowledge of the subject field and
knowledge of the learners.
• Spiraling the curriculum- the introduction and
reintroduction of concepts, skills, and knowledge-
is used as a means to ensure continuity.

13-19
ARTICULATION
• Articulation is the meshing of organizing elements
across school levels—that is, across elementary
and middle or junior high schools, across junior
high or middle and senior high schools, and across
senior high school and college.
• Sequence, continuity, and articulation are all
related concepts. Continuity and articulation are
perceived as dimensions of sequencing.

13-20
TRANSFERABILITY
• Transferability is that characteristic of learning
which when realized in one setting permits it to be
carried over into another setting. Although there is
no proof that certain subjects per se enhance the
transfer of learning, there is some evidence to
support the thesis that teaching basic principles of
a discipline and stressing their application increase
transfer. Transfer is a much-desired goal of
education.

13-21
• Curriculum planners engage in various types of
evaluation and research. Among the types of
evaluation are context, input, process, and
product. Among the types of research are action,
descriptive, historical, and experimental. In
another vein, curriculum planners engage in both
formative (process or progress) evaluation and in
summative (outcome or product) evaluation.

13-22
• The most fundamental approach to curriculum
evaluation—one that must be taken regardless of
other supporting approaches—is the assessment of
achievement of the specified curriculum objectives.

13-23
• Curriculum planners must determine whether the
programmatic (i.e., curricular) objectives have
been achieved. If the curriculum objectives have
been reached, planners would then identify next
steps by specifying new curriculum objectives and
establishing new priorities.
• If the curriculum objectives have not been met,
planners must decide whether the objectives still
merit pursuing and if so, what measures must be
taken to achieve them.

13-24
• Curriculum evaluators from both inside and outside
are employed by school systems. Much of the
burden for curriculum evaluation falls on teachers
as they work in the area of curriculum
development. Following a set of agreed-on
standards improves the evaluation process.

13-25
A FINAL THOUGHT:
• Evaluation is the means for determining what
needs improvement and for providing a basis for
effecting that improvement.

Developing the curriculum chapter 13

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