The overhaul of
K-12 education at the level of the locally centralized school district,
represented by the Minneapolis Public Schools, will be achieved with a focus on
four points pertinent to programming, and with attention to one
point relevant to administration.
The four points
for programmatic emphasis are as follows:
1) curriculum;
2) teacher
training;
3) academic
remediation and enrichment;
4) outreach
to families and communities
The point for
administrative attention (the fifth point of emphasis overall) is the
following:
5) staff
reductions in the central office bureaucracy
1) Curriculum
Developing and projecting a
model of K-12 educational excellence for the locally centralized school
district in the Minneapolis Public Schools begins with the establishment of a
rich curriculum in the liberal, vocational, and technological arts.
Those seeking to establish such
a 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. The K-12 curriculum summarized below features
an adaptation of the Core Knowledge curriculum for grades K-5 and my own
extension of the knowledge-intensive approach to grades 6-12. A full presentation of this curriculum and a
program for training teacher capable of imparting this curriculum is given in
the appendix.
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 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
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). They
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.
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