Common Core Learning Community – A Vision for Student Involvement

In my last post I began sharing some of our initial ideas for developing a comprehensive and collaborative resource design projects for mathematics teachers, students, and other stakeholders.  I want to give the community time to reflect, respond, and improve upon those initial ideas before adding an additional layer to the project.  (Please share with stakeholders that you represent and encourage them to post feedback to the blog or via email to me)

In this post, I want to talk about an untapped resource for curriculum design and resource development; students.  The project design team (growing as we type) feels strongly that our measure of success for this endeavor will be the utilization and contributions of our students.  Imagine a time when students serve as an equal partner in the development of lesson experiences that elicit learning behaviors defined by the Standards for Mathematical Practice.  Imagine student submitting worthwhile tasks that they would be interested in solving themselves.  Imagine students designing exemplary criteria for mathematics instruction.  (Who would know better about the realized value of a lesson than the student?) Imagine a learning community that promotes student-to-student tutoring, mentoring, and coaching that begins with the successful acquisition of mathematics content, but later extends to mentoring and coaching in a social capacity.   Talk about worthwhile service learning. 

I recognize that this vision may seem a little Utopian, OK, a great deal Utopian, but I strongly believe that another set of resources developed without the student voice is a mark against our ability to innovate as educational leaders in the 21^st Century. 

I am curious about how students are used throughout the nation in terms of curriculum development.  Please check out the reflection questions below and consider posting responses. 

1)   How are students involved in the curriculum development process at your school or district?

2)   How are students involved in the effectiveness of implementation or teacher evaluation process?

3)   What are some of your concerns about student involvement in the curriculum process?

Until next time, Dream Big!

Bill

(William_barnes@hcpss.org, Follow me on Twitter @billjbarnes)