The 7 Rs of Quality Curriculum Materials

Summary
There are seven quality curriculum materials: First, Rigorous where it requires students to
demonstrate a high level of understanding and thinking. Second Real Authentic quality that
mirrors what the students will do as teachers. Third, Requires Independence, Students are self-
directed in doing their tasks. Forth Rich in Thinking, Requires students more than memorization.
Fifth, Revealing it Uncovers students level of understanding and misconceptions. Sixth
Rewarding it Intrinsically motivating the students to do the task. Seventh Reflective, makes
students more reflective in the learning process that contributes to better performance

Discussion

To teach for understanding, teachers must be able to identify the big ideas of their subject
and know what it is they truly want students to understand. They also must engage students in
understanding performances, that is, opportunities for actively building personal understanding,
and provide meaningful feedback on learning as it unfolds. It is at this intersection of big ideas,
understanding goals, performances, and assessment feedback.

These are the seven Rs of the quality curriculum material. Collectively focused on the
topics to be covered, skills to be mastered, facts to be learned and outcomes to be achieved.
These are the aspects of the curriculum material that is of quality.

Rigorous

What does it mean for a curriculum itself to be rigorous? For a task or a lesson? Rather
than think of difficulty, I think in terms of affordances. A rigorous curriculum embodies and
affords students opportunities to develop a deeper understanding and not just show what they
already know. Too often curricula state carefully defined objectives that put an unintentional cap
on students understanding and obscure the big ideas of the discipline, leading to superficial
coverage. A rigorous curriculum must point the direction for learning but be open enough to
extend students understanding beyond a minimal outcome.

Real

Disciplinary learning can be thought of as a process by which individuals gradually

increase their participation in communities of practice. As such, a curriculum that builds
understanding must look to engage students in authentic disciplinary activities so that students
classroom activities mirror the real work of adults in the field. Rather than learning about math,
science, writing, history, and so on, students must become mathematicians, scientists, authors,
and historians to build true disciplinary understanding.
Requires Independence

Educational theorist Jerome Bruner defines understanding as the ability to use and apply
ones skills in novel situations to solve problems, make decisions, and advance new
understandings. This means that learners must necessarily be able to spot occasions for the use of
their skills and knowledge in the moment, make appropriate choices, and follow through with
application. Too often schoolwork leaves students with few choices and strips them of
opportunities to make the decisions that meaningfully Ritchhart (2007) Education Quarterly
Australia 3 shape learning and lead to a sense of accomplishment. Rather than engaging in deep
learning, students merely complete work.

Rich in Thinking

A quality curriculum asks more of students than just memorization and replication. Students
must make connections, observe closely, ask questions, form conjectures, identify points of
view, consider alternatives, evaluate outcomes, make evidence-based judgments, and so on. One
of the most important questions educators can ask is, What is the thinking students will do as
they progress through this activity? If teachers dont know what and where the thinking is in a
lesson, it is unlikely to be little more than an activity. Furthermore, to assess students
developing understanding, educators have to find ways to uncover and make the thinking of
students visible, which leads to the next point.

Revealing

A quality curriculum must constantly seek not only to reveal what it is that students do
and do not understand, but how they understand it. This is the holy grail of ongoing assessment,
which is not a separate piece of the enacted curriculum but part and parcel of it.

Rewarding

When you walk into a classroom where students are deeply engaged with learning, you
know it right away. There is a sense of purpose to the work they are doing. They know what they
are on about. Students can articulate what they are learning and why. This goes beyond activity
and fun. Their efforts feel directed toward a well-defined learning goal. Talk, discussion, and
debate advance progress toward that goal. Building understanding goes beyond working for the
grade. It has its own intrinsic rewards through a sense of efficacy, accomplishment, and
relevance.

Reflective As a learner

It can be challenging to know what one really thinks or understands. It is even more
difficult to know what others really understand or where they are in their learning. Reflection can
help address these challenges. Reflection on ones learningnot ones feelings about an activity
or experience but on the actual learning itself helps to anchor understanding and facilitates
connection making

Insights
Curriculum work generally focuses on the topics to be covered, skills to be mastered, and
facts to be learned in a particular grade level in a given subject. These aspects of the written
curriculum are certainly important as they guide teachers planning, ensure some uniformity
across schools, and provide a template for formal assessments. However, as teachers know, the
written curriculum is just a shadow of the enacted curriculum. It is the enacted curriculum, what
students actually experience and how they experience it, which ultimately shapes students
learning. In using curriculum as a tool to improve education, we need to think beyond the
traditional division of curriculum and instruction and focus on the enacted curriculum. The seven
criteria outlined here can be a useful tool for that discussion and in the creation of a curriculum
of understanding.
 Accreditation
Summary
Accreditation is viewed as a process by which an institution at the tertiary level evaluates
its educational activities, in whole or in part, and seeks an independent judgment to confirm that
it substantially achieves its objectives, and is generally equal in quality to comparable
institutions. Program As the Unit of Assessment, Currently, accreditation in state colleges and
universities is by program. A program is defined as a course or a group of related courses
packaged in a curriculum and leading to a graduate or undergraduate degree. Examples of
programs are elementary teacher education, civil engineering, agriculture, etc.
AACCUP is now considering other models, like, accrediting by institution as alternatives to, or
to complement program accreditation.
Other Attributes: Aside from being program-focused, accreditation is:

based on standards of the accrediting agency, which are normally higher than those set by
the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and other appropriate agencies,
e.g. Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).;
voluntary on the part of the higher education institution that may want to be accredited;
an evaluation by peers, i. e. the external accreditors are mostly faculty members from
other higher education institutions; and
non-governmental.

Discussion
Accreditation is a concept of self-regulation which focuses on self-study and evaluation and on
the continuing improvement of educational quality. It is both a process and a result.

As a process, it is a form of peer review in which an association of schools and colleges

establishes sets of criteria and procedures to encourage high maintenance of standards of
education among its affiliate members.

As a result, it is a form of certification granted by a recognized and authorized accrediting

agency to an educational program or to an educational institution as possessing certain standards
of quality which are over and above those prescribed as minimum requirements for government
recognition. Accreditation is based upon an analysis of the merits of educational operations in
the context of the institution's philosophy and objectives.
Membership to PACUCOA is open to all schools that are able to meet the standards and
requirements of the agency.
Basic Principles of Accreditation

1. Accreditation is based on accepted standards. Each school seeking accreditation will be

surveyed and evaluated in terms of the appropriateness and adequacy of its philosophy
and objectives and in terms of the degree and competence with which it achieves its
goals.
2. Accreditation is concerned with the teacher-learner relationship.
3. Accreditation provides opportunities for institutional growth through self-study and
evaluation and self-regulation.
4. Accreditation admits periodic review, criticism and readjustment of its criteria, policies
and procedures to changes in education.

Characteristics of Accreditation

1. its prevailing sense of volunteerism;

2. its emphasis on empowerment of people to accomplish the business of the
school/program in an excellent manner;
3. its strong tradition of self-regulation;
4. its reliance on comprehensive evaluative techniques,
5. its primary concern and passion for quality assurance and continuous improvement;
6. its cultivation of a culture founded on organized orderliness, and adherence to greater
efficiency, effectiveness and productivity.

Requirements for Accreditation

To be accredited by an authorized accrediting agency, an educational institution must

demonstrate that it satisfies the following requirements:

1. it has formally adopted an appropriate vision and mission;

2. it offers educational programs (or curricula) consistent with its vision and mission;
3. it has a viable number of students actively pursuing courses at the time of evaluation;
4. it has a charter or legitimate authority to award certificates, diplomas or degrees to each
person who has successfully complied with the requirements of an educational program;
5. it has formally designated a chief executive officer or has formally organized and staffed
a chief executive office;
6. it has a duly constituted governing board
7. it has documented its funding base, financial resources and plans for financial
development, adequate to carry out its stated purposes;
8. it has financial statements that are externally audited on a regular schedule by a certified
public accountant or agency;
9. it makes freely available to all interested persons accurate, fair, and substantially
complete description of its program, activities and procedures; and
10. it has graduated at least three batches before the evaluation for accredited status.
Legal Bases of Accreditation in the Philippines

In 1970, the Presidential Commission to Survey Philippine Education (PCSPE) submitted policy
recommendations to improve and strengthen higher education.

Among others, it recommended that schools be encouraged to join or organize accrediting

associations, and that a Federation of Accrediting Agencies (FAAP) be established.

The Commission Report better known as the Integrated Reorganization Plan (IRP), was
approved by President Marcos in his PD 201 and subsequently issued Presidential Decree 6-A,
otherwise known as the Educational Development Act of 1972, making accreditation one of the
means of upgrading standards of education in the Philippines and providing therein a program of
financial assistance.

Laws and regulations have been issued to articulate the governments policy on
accreditation. BATAS PAMBANSA 232;R.A. 7722, Creating the Commission on Higher
Education (CHED): DepEd Order 32, s 2005; CHED Order 1, s 2005 and the 2008 Manual of
Regulations for Private Schools, have stipulated voluntary accreditation as means of ensuring
quality education.

Insights
Accreditation is viewed as a process by which an institution at the tertiary level evaluates its
educational activities, in whole or in part, and seeks an independent judgment to confirm that it
substantially achieves its objectives, and is generally equal in quality to comparable institutions.
And a concept of self-regulation which focuses on self-study and evaluation and on the
continuing improvement of educational quality.

Through the improvement of quality assurance and quality certification systems of higher
education institutions, to ensure that higher education institutions mediate knowledge to students
that are exploitable on the national and international labour markets, and are of high quality and
serve as solid bases for further development.

For any developing country, improving the quality of higher education institutions is of
paramount interest of government agencies especially the Commission on Higher Education.
Several reforms have taken place, points out that one of the initiatives being done is rationalizing
the structure of public higher education and improving the budget to ensure resource
mobilization and cost efficiency. Despite these efforts, there are several issues that need to be
addressed and one is the voluntary nature of the accreditation system. Another related issue to
this is the number of multiple agencies catering to the accreditation of the various higher
education institutions. This paper reviewed the existing accreditation processes and roles of
accrediting bodies to present a clearer perspective on the current situation of higher education
institutions. Similar to other countries in the region, the accreditation process in the country is
initiated by the private sector and is also voluntary which adheres to the nature of the academe.
Though it is a way of fostering academic freedom and motivating some institutions to compete,
this could result in complacency in others. Policy implications include reshaping the institution
in terms of keeping an accreditation mechanism built into the system such as a quality assurance
framework.

Curriculum Evaluation
Summary
Over the past decades, education systems all over the world have been evolving from
largely centralized structures to more decentralized ones. This has become the general trend in
school management. Curriculum evaluation is an essential phase of curriculum development.
Through evaluation a faculty discovers whether a curriculum is fulfilling its purpose and whether
students are actually learning. School-based Management (SBM) is a management frame work
which is school-based, student-centered and quality-focused. Its purpose is to devolve the
decisions on student learning and resource deployment to the school to enable it to make a
school-based policy which is better meet the needs of students and enhance their learning
outcomes. The ACCES framework is reflective of this requirement because it provided equal
emphasis of the supply and the demand side of education to reinforce the development of a
community-based accountability system as well as engender the sharing of responsibility in
education service delivery.

Discussion
Evaluation of curriculum is an integral and essential part of the whole process of
curriculum development. It is a continuous activity and not a "tail-end-process". Evaluation and
planning are complementary processes which occur almost simultaneously and continuously.
Planning is made on the basis of evaluation and vice versa. However, as a separate state
evaluation has its own entity. The processes of curriculum implementation are, Pilot tryout: A
pilot tryout may begin in a school setting as soon as a complete, albeit, a preliminary version
of a course is available. Curriculum development team members may take the role of the teacher.
The purpose of this phase is to identify if it is possible to implement the curriculum, if changes
are needed, what conditions are required to ensure success. Field tryout: When a revised version
is completed based on the findings of the pilot tryout, field tryouts may be conducted by
teachers in their classrooms without the direct involvement of the development team. This
exercise attempts to establish whether the program may be used without the ongoing support of
the team and to demonstrate the merits of the program to potential users. Second, monitoring. A
periodic assessment and adjustment during the try-out period. It determines how the curriculum
is working, such that monitoring report becomes the basis of a decision of what aspects have to
be retained, improved or modified. And the third one is curriculum evaluation its a systematic
process of judging the value, effectiveness and adequacy of a curriculum: its process, product
and setting which will lead to informed decision.

School-Based Management Conceptual Framework. Leadership and Governance has a

network of leadership that provides the vision and direction to the education system making it
relevant and responsive to the contexts of diversecommunities.1. There is in place a mechanism
that In place is a mechanism The VMG is used The mechanism empowers the allows for the
development of a that allows for the collaboratively by the community to lead not only shared
vision, mission, and development of VMG by school and community as in the development of
the goals (VMG) which reflects the school and community guide in initiating VMG but in
making programs aspirations and thrusts of the members. Programs guided by community
aspirations and thrusts.

The implemented curriculum is Curriculum is consistent Curriculum is consistent

Curriculum is consistent with rights-based, inclusive, culturally with national standards. With
national standards national standards, fully and developmentally appropriate and successful
attempts to contextualized to local needs to the needs and interests of adapt to local community
and accepted by community learners and community, life are evident. Stakeholders, on the basis
of localized for relevance to the adopted VMG.

Learners are equipped with accomplish and demonstrate with high essential knowledge,
skills, and minimum proficiency progressive improvements level of attainment of values to
assume responsibility levels in all aspects of the beyond the minimum level desired
competencies and accountability for their own desired competencies of attainment of life skills
and learning competencies. Accountability and Continuous Improvement a clear, transparent,
inclusive, and responsive accountability system is in place, collaboratively developed by
community stakeholders, which monitors expected and actual performance, continually
addresses the gaps, and ensures a venue for feedback and redress.

The four (4) principles were assigned percentage weights on the basis of their relative
importance to the aim of school (improved learning outcomes and school operations); Leadership
and Governance - 30% Curriculum and Learning 30% Accountability and Continuous
Improvement 25% Management of Resources 15%

Resulting levels are described as follows: Level I: BEGINNING Establishing and

developing structures and mechanisms with acceptable level and extent of community
participation and impact on learning outcomes. Level II: DEVELOPING - Introducing and
sustaining continuous improvement process that integrates wider community participation and
improve significantly performance and learning outcomes. Level III: ADVANCED
(ACCREDITED) - Ensuring the production of intended outputs/outcomes and meeting all
standards of a system fully integrated in the local community and is self-renewing and self-
sustaining.
Insights
Evaluation essentially is the provision of information for the sake of facilitating decision
making at various stages of curriculum development. This information may pertain to the
program as a complete entity or only to some of its components. With the full implementation of
SBM, the school employed to have the sets of principle which will inform us regarding on school
performance status and other related school duties and functions which are important points of
information. The ultimate goal of curriculum evaluation is to ensure that the curriculum is
effective in promoting improved quality of student learning. Student assessment therefore
connotes assessment of student learning. Assessment of student learning has always been a
powerful influence on how and what teachers teach and is thus an important source of feedback
on the appropriateness implementation of curriculum content.
 Republic of the Philippines
Samar state university
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Catbalogan City, Samar
Telefax: (055) 549-83-94\Tel.No. (055) 251-2-39
Website: www.ssu.edu.ph

(BSEd Math-B)