Comprehensive Curriculum Planning: The Evangelisto Model
Tony Evangelisto, Ed.D.
Professor of Educational Administration and Secondary Education
The College of New Jersey
Ewing, NJ
Schools
have the mission of preparing children for life.This
has never been a simple mission, but it is one that becomes increasingly
more complex and overwhelming as years roll by.In
order for schools to be in a position to accomplish this mission with any
degree of success, they must be highly focused and clearly organized.The
curriculum provides the focus and the requisite organization.
Curriculum
is simply the plan by which schools fulfill their responsibilities on behalf
of children and society as well.Plans
may exist on a continuum from hastily prepared and superficially developed
to carefully promulgated and thoroughly and thoughtfully constructed.
Many
curriculum models are available as a basis for identifying curriculum components
and for developing curriculum.However,
the existing models share some common limitations:
1.Some
models include several important components involved in designing comprehensive
school programs but omit others that are of considerable importance.
2.Some
models are too simplistic in their basic design, ignoring or avoiding many
of the more specialized, but necessary intricacies of curricular decision
making.
3.Some
models are somewhat cumbersome and convoluted, proving to be rather difficult
to employ in the curriculum development process.
The
Evangelisto Model for curriculum development provides a comprehensive,
yet
manageable, model for designing curricula that help schools fulfill their
missions in preparing children for life.The
tiers of the Evangelisto Model, progressing from bottom to top, require
curriculum developers to:
1.Inventory
and record their knowledge, beliefs, understandings, attitudes, and values
about the nature of the society for which children are being prepared,
about the nature of the learner, about the nature of learning, and about
the nature of knowledge itself.
2.Express
and assert their philosophy regarding the role of the school and incorporating
the beliefs formulated earlier about the nature of society, learner, learning,
and knowledge.
3.Delineate
the K-12 curriculum goals for the school or school district.
4.Develop
programs of studies, activities, and student support services.
5.Formulate
the various administrative decisions that are intended to implement, sustain,
and enhance the programs through which the school accomplishes its mission.
6.Evaluate
the efficacy of the entire curriculum, considering not only measurable
outcomes related to student learning but many other sources of data that
are indicators of the effects of the school programs which are operating.
The
Evangelisto Model:
The Mission of the School
The
Task:Write a clear and concise mission
statement
that expresses the purpose and
focus
of the school.
Before
curriculum development begins, it is essential that schools define their
role on behalf of students, families, and communities that they serve.While
there are many specific focal points that school curricula must address,
the fundamental consideration is that schools are here to prepare children
for life.
The
school’s mission statement provides a focal point for all school endeavors
and all curriculum planning.If a
syllabus or a school policy is not congruent with the school’s mission,
then there is a basis for determining if either one belongs there at all.The
mission statement should be displayed prominently in all school buildings
and should be incorporated into all course syllabi and other appropriate
documents as a reference point.
Clearly,
a mission statement needs to be at once succinct and comprehensive; at
the same time it should be asserted in language that is specific and clear.Vague
generalities do not provide a clear enough sense of the school’s mission.
I. The Foundation of the curriculum: Society, Learner, Learning, Knowledge
A. The Nature of Society
The
Task: Identify the major realities of society today
and
indicate the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values
that
children will need to succeed in it.
If the school proclaims its mission to be focused on preparing children to be effective, productive, responsible members of a global society, then it is evident that curriculum planning must include an overview of the major realities/characteristics of the very global society that students are being prepared to encounter.While the list of realities is potentially quite vast, some of the more obvious items of interest may include:
1.Communication
2.Technology
3.Political/World climate
4.Economics
5.Vocations
6.Interpersonal relationships
7.Family and community living
8.Ecology
9.Values and value systems
10.Health [both physical and psychological]
11.Uses of leisure time
B. Human Development
The
Task: Describe what children are like in terms of
physical,
intellectual, social, and emotional development
at
key grade levels.Identify the implications
for decisions
related
to school and classroom environment as well as
for
teaching approaches in working with children.
Curriculum
and instruction are two aspects of schooling that must be regarded together
at all times.A curriculum plan which
identifies the scope and sequence of content (facts, concepts, skills,
attitudes) must also address the pedagogy that is appropriate for inculcating
or developing learning in students.Yet,
the nature of the content (in terms of its complexity and degrees of abstraction)
and the teaching approaches (teacher-directed or student-centered) must
not be planned in a vacuum.The nature
of the learner will inevitably have a profound influence on learning, by
way of facilitating or by way of impeding learning.Hence,
when designing a curriculum, one must carefully consider the nature of
the learner in order to plan appropriate instructional approaches to be
used.
Human
development is a vast and rather complex terrain to traverse.It
entails physical, intellectual, social, and psychological dimensions.A
great deal of information has been provided through the years by researchers,
yet so much more needs to be learned.Curriculum
planning must not ignore what is known about human development. Our success
with children will inevitably be intertwined with the degree to which we
are able to use what we know about them as we attempt to prepare learning
programs and environments that are suitable for students.Some
of the major contributors to our understanding of human development include
Abraham Maslow, Robert Havighurst, Erik
Erikson, and Jean Piaget.In addition,
much new information is emerging from brain research and from the work
of Howard Gardner [Multiple Intelligences] and Daniel Goleman [Social Intelligence].
The significance of these developments and others is that educators would be wise to re-visit their notions about teaching and learning and incorporate the relevant concepts and understandings as a basis for accommodating the many human needs that children bring into the classroom.The simple logic that applies here is that we are much more likely to succeed in our efforts to effect learning if we are able to provide the learning experiences that are congruent with the developmental realities that we find in youngsters.Some implications that relate to human development include:
1.Selection of teaching strategies
2.Development of a classroom environment that will be conducive to learning
3.Using means of communication that are appropriate to the learners
4.Providing the emotional and psychological supports that students need
5.Selection of learning materials that account for learning modalities, reading levels, levels of understanding, and prior knowledge
6.Assessing
student learning
C. The Nature of Learning
The
Task:Decide what learning is, then
explain
how
learning occurs in individuals.Note
the variables
that
affect learning, then explain what teaching
approaches
teachers should use to facilitate learning.
We
know a great deal about how learning happens.There
are myriad theories about
how
learning occurs in human beings, and many teaching approaches have been
developed in response to those theories.However,
one significant reality confronts us, and that is:Despite
the heroic, creative, and persistent efforts of dedicated and talented
teachers to facilitate learning in students, the results fall short of
the goal.Many students do not learn
a great deal of what they are taught.Standardized
test results across the country are indicative of this [author’s note:
Clearly, standardized tests have a rather limited focus in what they measure
and do not even begin to encompass the many goals that teachers are responsible
to attain across the major domains of learning: cognitive, affective, and
psychomotor.However, they are widely
used barometers of teaching efficacy; thus, they provide an objective substantiation
of the claim being made here that children are not entirely successful
learning what they are being taught.]
Some
of the learning theories, particularly those that find their origins in
the work of Ivan Pavlov, believe that learning results from a stimulus-response
continuum in which the individual learns through constant exposure to a
particular stimulus.The theories
that originate from this perspective suggest that effective teaching approaches
would be teacher-centered and possibly lecture-oriented, using rote memorization
and drill-and-practice.This approach
is used widely around the world and has been largely successful.Unfortunately,
there are some limitations in using such an approach:
a.despite
the fact that presentation of information can be done quickly, ittakes
a great deal of time to allow for the multiple repetitions required for
learning
b.it
tends to focus on memory and recall, rather than on the higher order thinking
skills
c.it
becomes tedious quite quickly for many students, and there is a tendency
for some students to become increasingly less attentive as the process
continues
Other
learning theories explain that learning occurs when the individual perceives
a pattern or develops an insight into the material that is being observed.Kurt
Lewin'’ field-ground theory and the work of gestalt psychologists assert
the view that the individual actively seeks out meaning and formulates
understandings by seeing relationships and patterns, then interpreting
them as to their significance.The
teaching approaches that are suggested by this line of thinking are: problem-solving,
laboratory experimentation, and inquiry learning; the classroom is essential
student-centered, and the teacher is in the role of guide and facilitator.The
advantages of such approaches are that the learning which results is powerful
and rather indelible and the higher order thinking skills [synthesis, analysis,
and evaluation] are more readily accommodated.The
most obvious disadvantage is that such approaches are quite time-consuming;
students need time to observe, formulate hypotheses, gather and analyze
data, synthesize, evaluate, draw conclusions and determine applications
of their insights.
D.The
Nature of Knowledge
The
Task: Determine how knowledge will be organized
for
classroom instruction and how decisions are to be
made
regarding what to include in scope and sequence
planning.Decide
what the focus of instruction should
be
in classrooms: facts, concepts, skills…..
Before
curriculum planners design a program of studies, they need to arrive at
a series of very fundamental and critical decisions.These
decisions are actually derived from our views on the nature of knowledge.This
becomes increasingly difficult as educators continue to experience the
effects of the “Knowledge Explosion” in which vast amounts of new knowledge
are appearing daily, and decisions regarding what to teach and what to
ignore are more difficult than ever before.To
avoid overwhelming the curriculum with too much information, we must be
very selective.[author’s note: Years
ago at a national conference, a speaker shared the following insight, one
that is so very true--Knowledge
is like a graveyard – everything goes in and nothing comes out.]
The
most fundamental questions relate to our views on the nature of knowledge.It
might seem frivolous to ask such a question, but it is a necessary one
with which to start.What is knowledge?What
knowledge should students acquire?
What
is knowledge?
Facts?
Concepts?
Skills?
Attitudes?
Problem-solving?
Scientific
Method?
Thinking?
All
of these?
Some
of these?
None
of these?
Our
very answer to this question suggests the emphasis that will be given in
classrooms and even the overall design of the program of studies.To
a large extent, the methods of instruction that are used in the classroom
will be influenced by the focus of the studies program as determined by
our views on the nature of knowledge
II. Expressing the Philosophy of the School
The task: Prepare
a statement of the school’s philosophy
that summarizes the views
clarified earlier as to the mission
of the school and the views
on society, the learner, learning,
and the nature of knowledge.
While
the school’s mission statement provides a succinct expression of its purpose,
the philosophy is a more extensive statement that may incorporate several
key ingredients:
A.The
Mission Statement
B.An
overview of the nature of society and the knowledge, skills, and values
that children will need as future members and leaders of that society
C.A
summary of the beliefs regarding child development and its relationship
to the learning environment and learning experiences to be provided
D.A
statement regarding the nature of learning and the appropriate teaching
approaches to be used in the classroom
E.An
explication of the nature of knowledge, identifying the organization of
the content of the curriculum and the relative emphases on learning of
facts, concepts, skills, problem-solving, thinking, et al.
The philosophy should be prominently displayed in curriculum materials as a reminder for all users that all teaching and learning are ultimately related to it.
III.Developing
District Goals
The
Task: Prepare goal statements that provide a more
specifically
focused series of statements that tell what
students
will know or be able to do when they have
completed
the school program.
The district’s goals express the focal points of the total curriculum. The goals
1.Comprehensive
– They must be expressed in broad terms so as to subsume all of the learnings
that are intended for all of the students.
2.Clear
and specific – The language of the goal statements must be as specific
and unambiguous as possible; vague or overbroad language will not provide
the clarity that will enable multiple users of the curriculum to be in
agreement as to what the goals are.
3.Outcome-focused
– It is important to express the goals in terms of what the students will
know or be able to do when they have completed the curriculum.This
helps foster a clear sense of direction as curriculum development moves
into the more detailed decision-making that comes later.
It
is imperative that the district’s mission statement and goal statements
be clearly
congruent.After
all, the goal statements tell more specifically what it takes to accomplish
the mission.It is also critical
that the mission and goal statements incorporate the perceptions and understanding
that derive from considering the nature of society.I.e.,
in preparing children to be successful and effective citizens of a global
society, we must be sure that our goals address the knowledge, values,
and skills that are required.
IV.
Designing Programs: Studies, Activities, and Services
The
Task:Decide what subjects will be
offered to students
in
the instructional program, identify out-of-class learning
experiences
that complement and supplement classroom
instruction,
and determine the services that will be provided
to
support students in their attempts to succeed in their work.
Very
often, parents and educators think of “curriculum” purely in terms of what
occurs in the classroom.This is
the most pervasive view of curriculum and the one that gets the greatest
amount of attention when discussions of the curriculum occur.Yet,
schools around the world provide activities outside of the classroom that
are considered to be quite valuable and necessary in the total development
of children.At the same time, these
same schools [depending upon available resources and the degree of emphasis
given locally to such things] provide a number of support services to assist
students not only in their daily functioning within the school setting
but also outside of the school [most frequently focused on college or career
pursuits].It is the beliefs of the
educational community [administrators, teachers, parents, host community]
that will determine the degree of attention given to the activities program
and the support services.
The
Evangelisto Curriculum model maintains that all three programs are integral
to the total curriculum and that all must receive full support if the mission
of the school is to be achieved to the greatest extent possible.De
facto realities [i.e., the widespread and almost universal presence of
activities and services in curricula around the world] give testimony to
their place in the curricula.Logic
also supports the need for activities and services in the school’s curriculum.While
the classroom is the school’s primary focal point in the learning process,
we must remember that classroom learning becomes more powerful and real
when students have the opportunities to use their knowledge and practice
their skills in the activities program.In
addition, there are many students whose ability to succeed are impeded
by any number of personal and academic impediments.
Activities
and services are vital programs that enhance our success in achieving the
school’s goals.Sadly, activities
and services are often underfunded or undervalued because education is
historically seen as that which transpires in the classroom and with reference
with textbooks, et al.This the so-called
“two by four” approach to the curriculum: what happens between the two
pages of a book and within the four walls of the classroom.
The
Evangelisto Model asserts that each of the three programs which comprise
the centerpiece of the overall curriculum has a distinctive, but complementary
function in the accomplishment of a school’s mission.In
effect, if the mission of the school is to “Facilitate students in their
development as capable, responsible, and effective members of a global
society,” one might ask how such a mission is accomplished.If
we rely solely upon classroom instruction to accomplish that goal, we run
a risk that some students might not reach the levels of competency to which
we aspire; others might achieve only partial success; still others might
simply “put in their time” and go through the motions, or they might drop
out altogether.Thus, the activities
programs provides a vehicle for extending and solidifying classroom learnings
or for keeping students in school so that we have additional opportunities
to help them learn.The services
program, on the other hand, entails providing help and support that is
intended to empower students to succeed in school by helping them in resolving
personal difficulties (both physical and psychological) that might impede
their learning, making appropriate choices as to educational programs and
future studies, and formulating career plans that are appropriate.
V.
Formulate Administrative Decisions
The
Task: Prepare a budget; design school facilities;
develop
policies and procedures related to programs,
teachers,
students, andschool requirements.
The
primary purpose of any school’s administration is to provide the leadership
and resources that are required in the achievement of the school’s mission.There
are many facets to administrative decisions, and only the major ones are
highlighted here.
-
Preparing
a budget
Resources
must be made available for accomplishing the goals of the school.The
fundamental issue here is that there must be a clear correlation between
the school’s goals and the resources that are allocated to them.Priorities
must be established, and the funding levels must be commensurate with the
degree of emphasis related to them.In
an era when resources seem to be quite limited, budgetary decisions must
be made with due care that money is being spent wisely and in accordance
with the established priorities.Since
the work of the school is accomplished through its programs of studies,
activities,and services, the funds
must be allocated to support them.
Budgetary
planning is certainly under the control of the central administration,
but it is important to remember that fiscal decisions that are intended
to support instruction are best made with the input from the individuals
who provide that instruction.Collaborative
budget decisions tend to keep program and student needs in focus.
-
Designing
school facilities
Where
facilities exist already, the issue here becomes one of making sure that
the buildings and grounds are sufficient and well-maintained to support
the instructional and activities programs.From
a usage standpoint, the question centers upon how appropriately and effectively
the buildings and grounds are being used.Always,
safety is an important consideration.
When
planning new facilities, there are any number of considerations that must
be included in the deliberations:
1.What
kinds of structures are needed to house students at the various age levels?Long-range
planning of facilities requires demographic information about the population
and housing patterns within the school community.
2.What
special facilities are needed for athletics, performing groups, cafeteria,
auditorium, computer labs, library, health suite, faculty offices, and
others?
3.How
does a campus arrangement compare with having separate buildings on tracts
of land spread over a large area [neighborhood schools vs. centralized
facilities]?
4.What
classroom and special purpose areas are needed in each building for students
and staff?
5.How
accessible should the facilities be to the general public?
-
Delineating
policies and procedures
Policies
and procedures provide guidelines as to the daily activities of individuals
within the school.There are many
specific aspects of the policies and procedures needed in schools.Some
of the more prominent areas of focus are:
-
Discipline: rules
of conduct and the consequences provided for them; what mechanisms are
to be used when rule infractions occur? Suspension
[in-school and out-of-school] and expulsion procedures must be clearly
defined, and due process considerations must be followed.
-
Attendance/lateness.
-
Class schedules
-
Grouping
of students for instruction
-
Dress codes
[for students and staff members]
-
Homework
-
Grading
-
Lesson
planning
-
Student
voice
-
Placement
of students
-
Allocating
resources and budgeting
-
Field trips
-
Curriculum
renewal
Student,
faculty, and parent handbooks should be provided and should be clearly
organized and “user-friendly.”Ideally,
the school will maintain a Website, providing detailed and extensive information
regarding the policies and procedures as well as assorted other information
on personnel and school activities.
VI.
Evaluating the Curriculum
The
Task:Determine how the curriculum
and its effects
will
be evaluated: decide on the kinds of data needed
to
evaluate the curriculum and the achieving of each of
the
school’s goals and how to analyze that data.
Curriculum
evaluation involves assessing and judging the accomplishment of the school’s
goals.Assessment entails the gathering
of data about the school programs, et al., while evaluation is about making
judgments based on the data.An evaluation
is essentially a value judgment: how well are we doing with reference to
this goal?Is this satisfactory?
It
is important to use a wide variety of data in evaluation of the curriculum.While
the overwhelming trend today is to use standardized test data on student
performance as the basis for evaluating schools, it is important to remember
that such data provides a very narrow perspective.For
instance, if we want to determine how successful our programs are, we may
want to consider using:
1.Grades
that students earn
2.Graduation
rates
3.Course
completion rates
4.Longitudinal
data on student performance
5.Participation
levels in extra-class activities
6.Surveys
of parents, students, teachers, employers, colleges and universities
7.Discipline
records
8.Parent
conference feedback
9.Accreditation
visit reports
10.Teacher-made
tests
11.Student
portfolios
12.Honor
roll membership
While
it is important to gather data systematically and to analyze them carefully,
it is essential that the results of the evaluation be used as the basis
for modifying, enhancing, and adjusting the curriculum.If
we discover that the curriculum is working well, the focus should be: How
can we sustain and even enhance our successes?If
it is discovered that the curriculum falls short of expectations, then
the relevant questions are: What caused the level of performance to be
thus? And What adjustments can be made to improve on the curriculum’s performance
in this area?
The
Evangelisto Model as a Basis for Planning and Evaluating Curricula
The
Evangelisto Model is a research-based model that provides curriculum planners
a useful tool in making curriculum decisions.Curriculum
development needs to be comprehensive if it is to produce curricula that
will fill the need in schools.It
is the view of this model that each component identified within the model
is a vital aspect to be considered in planning programs.
[Author’s
note:The Evangelisto Model is derived
from research conducted as part of my doctoral dissertation, completedin
1982 at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA.The
study was entitled The Development and Use of a Generic Model for Planning
and Evaluating Basic Skills Programs in Language Arts for Secondary School
Students. Ithas
been the basis for curriculum work that I have done in the United States
and internationally.I would like
to acknowledge my eternal debt of gratitude to Dr. H. Bernard Miller of
Temple University whose guidance and mentoring inspire me even today.]