Article #1
Curriculum Overhaul
Those seeking to establish a
knowledge-intensive, skill-replete curriculum should read as many works by Core
Knowledge Foundation founder E. D. Hirsch as possible,
including The Schools We Need and Why We Don’t Have Them
(1996) and the parent resource books, What Your [Preschooler, Kindergartener,
First Grader, Second Grader, Third Grader, Fourth Grader, Fifth Grader, Sixth
Grader] Needs to Know, for which Hirsch has served as chief editor
for volumes that have appeared as initial and updated editions since the 1990s.
And those aspiring to establish the ideal K-12 curriculum should also read the
August 2014 edition of my Journal of the K-12 Revolution: Essays
and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota, in which I detail
curriculum for all grades K-12.
In my own work, I follow
Hirsch’s Core
Knowledge curriculum closely for grades K-5; then I detail
curriculum for grades 6-8 and 9-12 that would follow logically from the
foundation laid at grades K-5.
In the August 2014 edition of my
academic journal, Journal of the K-12 Revolution: Essays
and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota, I present a fully developed K-12
curriculum with the necessary knowledge-intensity necessary for an excellent
education.
Here I summarize the curriculum
that should be implemented by Graff, Thomas, and Moor:
Curriculum for Grades K-5
Curriculum for Grades K-5
At the K-5 level, students will
focus on the key liberal arts areas of mathematics, natural science (geology,
biology, chemistry, and physics), literature & English usage, history &
economics, and fine arts (music & visual arts). In mastering such a rich
curriculum, students graduating from Grade 5 will acquire knowledge of mathematics
through introductory algebra and geometry. They will have knowledge of the
earth’s formation and defining qualities; the chronological emergence and
defining characteristics of plant and animal forms; fundamental facts
concerning subatomic particles, the structure of the atom, molecular
structures, and the array of elements found on earth; and the basic laws of
gravity and motion, especially as contrasted in the work of Isaac Newton and
Albert Einstein.
Students will graduate from
Grade 5 having read widely in classical literature, including Western classics,
world literature, and literature specific to a multiplicity of ethnic groups.
Students at K-5 will gain detailed overviews of United States and world history
(necessarily including the history of many ethnic groups); and they will master
the fundamental concepts of microeconomics and macroeconomics. Students will
graduate from Grade 5 having mastered a great wealth of information pertinent
to the theory and forms of the visual and musical arts, and they will learn how
to play at least one musical instrument.
Graduates from Grade 5 will
have a mastery in these informational realms that exceeds the
knowledge and skill level evidenced by many high school graduates
today. These knowledge and skill sets will continue development in
middle school (grades 6-8) so as to solidify student academic
foundations for very advanced study in high school.
Curriculum
for Grades 6-8
Curriculum at the level of the
middle school (grades 6-8) will follow logically from the knowledge and skill
base established during grades K-5.
Students will emerge from Grade
8 with knowledge of mathematics through Algebra II and in functions,
statistics, and trigonometry. They will gain advanced understanding of all
major concepts in biology, chemistry, and physics. Students at grades 6-8 will
continue to read at ever rising level of
sophistication the great works
of classical literature, including Western classics, world literature, and
literature specific to a multiplicity of ethnic groups, and they will write
expositional and argumentative essays. Grades 6-8 students will also build
highly sophisticated knowledge bases in United States history, world history,
political science (including United States political processes, United States
Constitution, and world governmental systems), microeconomics
and macroeconomics--- and gain foundational knowledge in psychology,
sociology, and anthropology.
As they graduate from Grade 8,
students will have an enormous knowledge base pertinent to the visual and
musical arts, mastery of at least one musical instrument at each student's
maximum possible level of skill, and opportunities to participate in choral,
band, and ensemble musical groups.
During the grades 6-8 years,
students will assiduously study at least one foreign language. Students will
take physical education at each grade level, 6-8. They will be given
opportunities to acquire skills in vocational trades (including the skills of
the electrician, auto mechanic, and the carpenter). And they will acquire
strong foundational knowledge relevant to computers and other devices of
contemporary technology.
Graduating from Grade 8 with
mastery in these informational realms, students will possess knowledge and
skill sets that exceed those evidenced by many high school graduates today.
Curriculum for Grades 9-12
Curriculum for Grades 9-12
At the high school (grades 9-12)
level, then, students can proceed to acquire knowledge that we associate with
mastery at the level of first and second year university students, and at
two-year
colleges of both the
liberal arts and technical type. All students (except those facing genuine
learning disabilities, who will be given the most challenging instruction
possible) in grades 9-12 will take sequential courses in calculus as
preparation for Advanced Placement. They will take Advanced Placement courses
in biology, chemistry, and physics; in American and world history; and in
English. Students will pursue options for study in specific geographical and
topical areas of world history (e.g., history of the Roman Empire, dynastic
China, Africa, African America, Latin America, medieval era, early modern era,
contemporary [recent] history).
High school students will take
courses in classical English and world literature, and they will opt for
specialized courses similar in geographical and topical focus to those
given for history. All students will
take college preparatory courses in economics and psychology, and they will
have elective course options in sociology and anthropology. And all students
will continue to develop skills in the visual and musical arts, with
opportunities to participate in choral, band, and ensemble musical groups.
All students at grades 9-12 will
study a world language through the second year college level. Students will
take two years of physical education and have various physical education
options beyond two years. High school students will select from various courses
in the vocational and technological arts.
Thus, all students will be
well-prepared for study at either liberal arts or technical colleges, and
at universities, upon high school graduation. No student will be tracked for
either of these options; rather, each student will graduate with the confidence
that she or he has the preparation for pursuing post-high school courses of
study of either type.
……………………………………………………………………………..
The curriculum detailed above is
rigorous and achievable.
Students enrolled in the
academic sessions that I conduct in the New Salem Educational Initiative are
now engaged with such a rich curriculum via their reading of my new book
(which I am now perfecting as my ninth published work), Fundamentals of an Excellent Liberal Arts Education.
Students in the Minneapolis
Public Schools deserve such an education of K-12 excellence.
I am absolutely dedicated to a
course of action that will impel the Minneapolis Public Schools to become a
model for other locally centralized school districts via the impartation of
such an excellent education.
Nothing in Ed Graff’s background
suggests that he has the training necessary to grasp and implement such
curriculum. But his having exceeded expectations
thus far in the areas of administrative reorganization and bureaucratic paring
gives me hope that he can overcome the deficiencies in his own training to
exceed expectations in the critically important matter of curriculum overhaul.
And to be sure, Ed Graff’s
ability to overhaul curriculum along the lines detailed above will determine
his success as Superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools--- for, more importantly, curriculum overhaul
is imperative in charting promising futures for students who have been waiting
a very long time for an excellent education.
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