District/School Curriculum Analysis

Amanda Anderson
Wayne State University
September 30, 2014

While pre-student teaching at Warren Mott High School, I have been able to take a closer
look at the school, the district, and the chemistry curriculum. I am lucky to have a placement
where I am able to help with advanced placement (AP) chemistry, honors chemistry and
chemistry-one. This allows me to see the growth that is expected from the students as they
progress through the chemistry curriculum. Typically, freshmen are in the chemistry-one class,
with perhaps a few sophomores. Sophomores and juniors are usually in the honors chemistry
classes; and juniors and seniors are in AP chemistry. Warren Mott High School is located in
what is considered a low-income area. Many students are ESL and need extra assistance. The
dynamics are slightly different in each classroom due to the content being covered, the age of the
students, the time of day, some language barriers and etc. I will be taking a closer look at the
curriculum being covered in the classroom and comparing it to the district curriculum, state
expectations and national standards.
The goals and objectives of the classes are a little different depending on the type.
Chemistry-ones main goal is to cover at least the expectations and give them a general overview
of chemistry that will prepare the students for standardized tests. Honors chemistry quickly
reviews what was covered in chemistry-one and then takes the students one-step further. The
objective here is to take the students deeper into the concepts and prepare them for college
courses and again, standardized tests. AP chemistry is designed as an opportunity for students to
actually earn college credit. The ultimate goal of this course is for the students to pass the AP
exam at the end of the school year. The objectives of the district, state and national standards are
very similar. All of them want to produce students that are able to successfully compete. The
district wants to be able to show high-test scores, high graduating rates, and etc. This causes the
district to have a good reputation, which means more parents will send their children, which

turns into more money. The state wants its students to meet its expectations so that they can rank
high when compared to other states scores and statistics. The state also wants to prepare its
students for success in post secondary education/engagement. The national expectations are put
into place to help students be prepared to compete globally. When a country is able to output
competent adults, it means the country itself can compete with other countries economically,
intellectually, politically, and more. The simplest way to explain this is that everyone wants to
look better than everyone else, and we prove that we are better than everyone else by comparing
test scores. So, curriculum standards are designed to encourage higher test scores.
So far this year, in the classes we have covered: laboratory safety/equipment, laboratory
skills, the scientific method, units of measurements, SI conversions, scientific notation, and
significant figures with calculations. We are currently starting the energy unit. Whats interesting
is that laboratory safety/equipment and laboratory skills are not mentioned in the district, state or
national curriculums; yet its required by law that we cover these topics in class for liability
purposes. It also just makes sense in order for the students to be successful as the year continues.
By reviewing the scientific method, units of measurement, SI conversions and significant
figures, we are also meeting standards listed in the state and national curriculums. The National
Science Education Standards has these topics under abilities for scientific inquiry: use
technology and math to improve investigation and communication, design and conduct scientific
investigation. The state curriculum has its own scientific inquiry section thats a little more
specific. According to the HSCE (High School Content Expectations), students need to:
generate new questions that can be investigated, design and conduct scientific investigation,
calculate the average atomic mass and more.

Since we have finished those topics, we have moved on to the energy unit. When looking
at the district standards this might not seem to make a lot of sense. The closest unit to an
energy unit listed in the district curriculum is the Thermodynamics and Solutions unit, which is
unit 9! However, we are covering energy first because it is related to almost every topic in
chemistry. When you look through the district curriculum, energy is discussed in almost every
unit. For example, unit 3 deals with Quantum Mechanics, which is all about electrons. We are
supposed to discuss, electron clouds, energy levels, energy transfer and chemical changes. IN
unit 4, covering potential energy is a requirement. Unit 8 wants kinetic energy, and the list goes
on and on. My cooperating teacher has found that when you start the year off with a topic that all
the students are familiar with and that relates to almost every aspect of chemistry, like energy, it
provides a framework that the students can refer back to throughout the year and it seems to help
them understand the new content better. So according to the district standards, we are jumping
around right now.
However, when you look at the High School Content Expectation, we seem to be right on
track! The state curriculum jumps right into forms of energy and then moves on to energy
transfer and conservation and continues even further. So in our classroom, we are following the
order of the state standards. They too relate almost every topic back to energy. Some of the
standards that we are currently meeting are: describe energy changes, explain the changes in
potential energy, compare the average kinetic energy of molecules, use the terms endothermic
and exothermic correctly. The national expectations are the least specific, but we are still right
on track with them as well. Just to name a few, they want us to be discussing conservation of
energy and interactions of energy.

In the classroom, we have been able to incorporate many different forms of assessment,
including authentic and traditional. We have been able to evaluate the students level of
understanding by looking at the worksheets and packets that they turn-in; also, by walking
around and helping students and answering questions during the activities and labs. Based on the
questions and work shown on their papers, we are able to determine if a concept needs to be readdressed. The labs allow the students to actively demonstrate their understanding of the material
and apply it to real-life/hands-on situations. For traditional assessment we have given quizzes
and tests. This has been beneficial in many ways because we have a program that allows us to
put questions in MME/MEAP/ACT format. This exposure to the format will help the students
become comfortable, which will hopefully improve their standardized test scores. The
quizzes/tests are also taken on the clickers. This allows us to look at statistics instantly. We can
see each students results, we can check the percentage of students that missed each question, we
can generate reports and etc. The assessment of student learning in our classroom meets many
standards at the district, state, and national level. The state requires a student to pass the AP
exam in order to get college credit. We design our tests based on the AP exam format and at the
same level of difficulty. As mentioned earlier, we put our other exams in MME/MEAP/ACT
format, which covers state and district requirements. According to the National Science
Education Standards, statistics need to be used to help identify any potential bias. The use of
clickers meets this requirement. NSES states there must be a variety of assessments, which I
have listed above. Also, they mention that assessments need to be deliberately designed. We
meet this requirement by choosing our activities and labs very carefully and intentionally in
order to measure the students level of understanding.

I as the teacher need to know these curricula because there are multiple levels of
authority of which I am accountable. I must be able to show that the lessons and activities
performed in my classroom not only meet school requirements, but district, state and national
expectations as well. Also, by being familiar with the content standards ahead of time, it
becomes easier to plan appropriate lessons and assessments. It all goes back to keeping the end
in mind. When I know where I need to take my students, I am able to make realistic plans to
get there. This keeps me on track as far as time management and lets me link multiple standards
together in each lesson. The more familiar I am with the content requirements, the easier it is to
reflect, brainstorm, and correct mistakes. I want my classroom to be a productive learning
environment and I want to be an effective educator that challenges my students to think
critically; and it all starts with knowing the curriculum on multiple levels.