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Curriculum Implementation Philosophy

Jimena Rising

College Name, Grand Canyon University

EAD 520

Michael Lichucki

2/22/2023
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When I become a leader, I would like for my future school to serve elementary aged

children. This would include Pre-k through fifth grades, and special education students. Because

I know that I will be working as a leader in my current district- Clark County School District- I

know that. I will be serving a diverse community of teachers, staff, students, and families. While

serving, I will always keep Standard 5 of the National Policy Board of Educational

Administration (NPBEA).in mind. This standard is focused on the students and the care and

support that should be demonstrated to them. It states “Effective educational leaders cultivate an

inclusive, caring, and supportive school community that promotes the academic success and

well-being of each student “(NPBEA, 2015, P. 13). A leader’s focus should always be to find the

best way to improve student achievement.

Leaders should serve the school with their mission and vision in mind. The mission and

vision should be centered around differentiation and individual goal setting. When creating and

implementing curriculum, I would make sure that curriculum chosen will be easy for teachers to

differentiate, and that it is engaging for students. If the students are not engaged or cannot

understand the curriculum, they will not learn it. It is also important to differentiate for higher

students so that they do not get bored. The most successful way to differentiate from my

experience would be to have a system for Response to Intervention (RTI). According to the U.S.

Department of Education, this three-tiered system allows educators to provide interventions in

various ways to students and requires the collection of data to check progress throughout the

year. RTI can be given to students for math and reading, and aspects of RTI can be used for

subjects such as writing, science, and social studies as well. Providing RTI for students allows

them to set goals for themselves and feel successful at their own level, promoting overall

success. If in any given case RTI is not successful, it still allows educators to look at data and
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determine if a student may have a learning disability or any other underlying factors that are

stopping them from being successful.

I also believe that engagement is key in education. When students are bored it is very

hard for them to retain information. Teachers should build relationships with their students and

find their interests to keep them engaged. The school should feel like a community and a safe

space for all to learn. Regarding curriculum, one way to keep students engaged would be to

promote integration of subjects. Two types of integration that seem to be very engaging are

theme focused and project focused. According to Glatthorn, Jailall, and Jailall, theme focused

integration refers to using one theme that is of interest to students and bring in content about that

theme in different subjects. Project based integration is bringing in different subjects to complete

one big project- such as creating a lemonade stand and using reading and writing to describe

their project, math to come up with costs, and science to build a model. Integration can be very

beneficial to building strong curriculum and strengthening depth of knowledge levels.

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References

National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2015). Professional Standards for

Educational Leaders 2015. Reston, VA: Author.

U.S. Department of Education, Et. Al. (2006). Evaluation of Response to Intervention Practice

for Elementary School Reading. Retrieved on February 22, 2023, from:

https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20164000/pdf/20164000.pdf

Glatthorn, A. A., S., J. J. M., & Jailall, J. K. (2017). The principal as Curriculum leader:
Shaping what is taught and tested. Corwin, a SAGE Publishing Company.