Positively shaping school
climate begins with vision,
relationships and trust
An unthinkable crisis on
campus can be a stark
reminder that a strong
and viable curriculum has
an essential prerequisite:
Learning cannot take
place inside of chaos. A
positive school climate
is the foundation for
collaborative systems that
support all students.
20
Leadership
Educational researcher Robert
Marzano has said the most important factor
for ensuring a productive learning environment and student success is a strong curriculum: “I rank this as the first factor, having
the most impact on student achievement”
(Marzano, 2003).
Until recently, I had vehemently agreed
with this position and thought it odd how
many of my colleagues abandon a “guaranteed and viable curriculum” for homemade
lesson plans, downloads, pirated PowerPoints, or end-of-trimester projects parents
rush to finish for their kids.
Having worked in curriculum development, I am well aware of the knowledge and
expertise it takes to develop a textbook for
a standards-based California classroom, not
to mention the countless people hours.
The science book I am currently using
has 37 doctoral degrees contributing to the
text. These are experts who develop content,
pacing, modifications for English language
learners or emerging students, struggling
readers, enrichment for GATE students,
labs, aligned and customizable assessment,
videos, multimedia presentations and PowerPoints, as well as online content and optional digital text.
A single teacher simply cannot outmatch
what a dream team of educational researchers can put together with a multimillion dollar budget. The adopted curriculum is the end
result of the largest and most powerful Professional Learning Community on any school
campus – 37 Ph.Ds working together to develop curriculum for one grade level, for one
subject, with considerations to every learner.
Foolproof teaching and virtually guaranteed results.
In large part, this was my understanding
of the academic model for success. And, all
things considered, it is a wonderfully effective paradigm: Utilize the book as the foundation of instruction and allow experts to
dictate the content, pacing, modifications,
peripherals, enrichments, etc. Indeed, it
is a personal epistemological instructional
By Jonathan Robinette