Deciding What to Teach & Test: Developing, Aligning, and Leading the Curriculum, by Fenwick

W. English
Chapter 2: A Template for Curriculum Construction
Curriculum development cannot be neutral because it is, by its very nature, political, in
that it takes a stance on what is to be taught and for what reasons it will be taught
(English, p. 41, 2010).
Curriculum development should challenge the way a school handles teaching, because to
do otherwise is nave[and] an example of an ideological apparatus in which the
school reproduces the established order (English, p. 45, 2010). To let the status quo
remain does not do justice to the students or the teachers.
Knowledge is not neutral. Selecting what to teach is a political act, because someone is
deciding who will benefit from certain material the most, while also considering who will
be excluded by that same knowledge. If the benefits outweigh the exclusions, that
knowledge will probably be used (English, p. 46, 2010).
There is a difference between having a general goal (such as students will be able to
think critically) and a specific goal (such as students will be able to read the editorial
page of The New York Times with 100% accuracy and be able to point out instances of
arguments not based on facts) (English, p. 50, 2010). A specific goal is far more
effective at helping teachers design curriculum meant to help students.
Curriculum is always a means to somebodys end (English, p. 69, 2010). This is not as
bad as it sounds; the author is referring to the fact that, whether its the teacher, the school
system, or the state, someone has goals that need to be met, and the curriculum is the
means through which those goals can be achieved.
Understanding by Design, by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe
Chapter 5: Essential Questions
Focusing on the big ideas of a unit and making lessons into engaging, thought-
provoking, and effective work[s] are accomplished through the use of essential
questions (Wiggins & McTighe, p. 105, 2005).
Good essential questions will not be easily answered; they will need to be grappled with
by students, make students reconsider truths that they thought they knew, and do not
have one single answer. They should be answered using connections students form and
cause reconsideration of ideas and their relativity (Wiggins & McTighe, p. 107, 2005).
A teacher must make a question essential through how it is interpreted, the
understanding-related goals we set, how we intend for students to respond to it, and what
connections we hope to derive from it (Wiggins & McTighe, p. 110, 2005).
Essential questions need to be multifaceted in order to be truly successful. Topical
questions are good and overarching questions are good, but they are most effective when
used together, in order to offer a more complete understanding (Wiggins & McTighe, p.
117, 2005).
 In order to best utilize essential questions, a teacher should organize a unit around them,
design assessments with those questions in mind, keep the questions brief, ensure that
students understand the value, and keep the essential questions posted in view throughout
the unit (Wiggins & McTighe, p. 121, 2005).
Chapter 6: Crafting Understandings
A true understanding of something will lend itself to complete thoughts, proposals of
significant information to be understood, and remain general (that is, they focus on big
ideas rather than minutiae), as opposed to nonunderstanding, which tends to be very
general and conveyed in non-specific language (Wiggins & McTighe, p. 127, 2005).
To gain a true understanding of something means that a person is able to infer something
based on the teachings of experts in that field, and that they are able to transfer that
understanding from one topic to another, because true understanding is not confined to a
specific instance (Wiggins & McTighe, p. 128, 2005).
Overarching understandings link to big ideas and general knowledge; topical
understandings, used in conjunction with overarching ones, are much more specific and
relative to the topic immediately at hand. The two understandings put together provide a
base from which understanding can radiate outward (Wiggins & McTighe, p. 130-131,
2005).
Teachers (or designers) should consider using the phrase Students should understand
that when crafting lesson plans to avoid being too general or too narrow (Wiggins &
McTighe, p. 135, 2005).
The Expert Blind Spot can be very detrimental to students and teachers alike. [T]he
failure to grasp that key lessons involve understandings that have to be engineered, not
facts to be transmitted (Wiggins & McTighe, p. 138, 2005). Too often, teachers
(especially of high schoolers) believe that some things are just self-evident; essential
questions can help instructors avoid this.
Understandings are inherently fallible, and should always be considered works-in-
progress.
Chapter 7: Thinking like an Assessor
Teachers should create assessments before they create activities; units should be taught
with the question, What would count as evidence of successful learning (Wiggins &
McTighe, p. 146, 2005) asked first, followed by the actual lesson planning and activity
portion.
Too often, educators stick to the traditional plan, failing to realize that the common
assessments used (multiple choice tests, essays, etc.) do not always relate to the big ideas
that the unit is trying to teach (Wiggins & McTighe, p. 148, 2005).
The three basic questions provided on page 150 should be considered when creating
assessments. What evidence is necessary to show understanding of goals, what should be
examined in student responses, and are we able to infer a students understanding
(Wiggins & McTighe, p. 150, 2005).? These questions are important because they are the
 basis for why we teach if we cannot see a students progress, how do we know they are
understanding?
Authenticity is what leads to true understanding. An authentic assessment of sorts should
be realistic, require a students judgment and critical thinking, replicate challenging
situations, assess a students ability to complete a task using their understanding, and is a
time-laden process, rather than a single-class test or essay (Wiggins & McTighe, p. 154,
2005).
If a unit has been constructed with essential questions at the core, then essential questions
should be used to test whether an assessment will truly address the important issues
taught throughout the unit (Wiggins & McTighe, p. 167, 2005).