SBLAC 1. Introduction to the Skills-based Learning and Assessment Curriculum

The following discourse was originally offered as a guidance for high school. The principles herein likely have much wider application. The purpose is to first explain the concept of the standards-based curriculum and to then propose a way to work it. But although the original purpose of the document, itself, was to help explain the metaphor of “walking the dog” as it applies to curriculum, it is specifically relevant regarding the standards-based curriculum. And confusing though this may seem already, “walking the dog” has a lot to do with classroom instruction and curriculum selection has a lot to do with how that dog is walked.

We shall begin with a few basic assumptions which make this whole “walking the dog” thing necessary in the first place. First of all, the vast majority of secondary teachers are taught subject matter expertise and instructional principles as they relate to classroom presentation. Lesson planning and curriculum development are tools with which to formalize the process of imparting topical information to an adolescent audience. The material which makes up the topical information is the course content. When the course content forms the basis of the curriculum, be it math, science, or any department designation, the resultant curriculum is necessarily a content-based curriculum. A content-based curriculum is not a standards-based curriculum.

Secondly, good teaching is an art. But teaching is only as good as the learning it produces. No one who fails a third or more of his or her students (except in perhaps an extreme case or two) can really claim to be a good teacher. Regardless of our desire to blame the student, the family, the system, society, or our insistence that we not “lower our standards,” the harsh facts of good teaching lie in the capacity of the students on the classroom roster to learn. There is a tendency to use the argument that teachers at select enrollment schools are only “good” because the students at select enrollment schools are smarter, brighter, or more highly motivated. At the same time a good teacher at an urban neighborhood school has much less to work with and teachers there should not be measured by the same yardstick. But this, too, is relative. Anyone who truly believes that “all students can learn” must also believe that teaching them is possible. However, understand that it will take a “good” teacher.

Classroom instruction, like walking the dog, is a very personal thing. Anyone who has ever walked a dog understands that while many dogs like routine in their walk, sometimes they like a little variety. Anyone who has ever walked a dog also understands that when we have all day we can take the dog for a long and leisurely walk, but when we are in a hurry, we need to get the job done and move on. Sometimes it’s sunny and warm; sometimes it’s rainy and cold. But the dog must be walked. If not, well, things happen that we needn’t go into. High school students, while not comparing them to dogs, like routine. But they also like variety. Sometimes the curriculum and school schedule allow a leisurely stroll through interesting or complicated content. Sometimes we must move through the material quickly due to pacing requirements and/or school schedules. Sometimes students behave and do as they’re told. Sometimes they are overcome with emotional stress and act as the hormonal adolescent thespians they are, or worse. Thus, whatever the curricular plan for the day, classroom instruction cannot be dictated.

To explain the metaphor we must first be aware of the concept behind it. For any expert (of course, levels of expertise notwithstanding) being micromanaged can be a most frustrating experience. Being told how to do something for which a person has been trained can lead to animosity and resentment, particularly if the person has been doing it for awhile. Assuming that teachers are certified we can be assured that teachers know the basics of teaching. But knowing the basics is a nominal place to start. This is most evident when querying educators about what to teach and how it is structured. When someone is highly skilled in a task and is told by an authority figure how to perform a task as if the task was new, irritation sets in. It’s as if the skilled expert is being condescended upon by a person who is not the one performing the task. A common urge is to tell the authority figure, “Don’t tell me how to walk a dog.” So as we begin this discourse we shall not condescend by explaining basics of classroom instruction. On the contrary, we are discussing the parameters within which we perform our task. This is about what to teach and how it is developed.

My final comment before delving into the structure of the skills-based learning and assessment curriculum refers to the vocabulary of standards-based instruction. Much the same way Dr. Willard Daggett’s Rigor and Relevance Framework has been misinterpreted, misrepresented, and re-defined, the standards-based curriculum, as a haggard cliché, has been misused, misunderstood, and often deliberately abused so as to sell an initiative, a textbook or a PD course. Therefore, for the purposes of this guide, I have renamed our standards-based curriculum. We shall call it Skills-based Learning and Assessment Curriculum (SBLAC).