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The Parallel Curriculum
A Design to Develop Learner Potential and Challenge Advanced Learners

Second Edition


October 2008 | 336 pages | Corwin
'The Parallel Curriculum Model helps teachers not only strengthen their knowledge and pedagogy, but also rediscover a passion for their discipline based on their deeper, more connected understanding. Our students think critically and deeply at a level I have never before witnessed.'ùTony Poole, PrincipalSky Vista Middle School, Aurora, CO'What makes this book unique is its insistence on the development of conceptual understanding of content and its focus on the abilities, interests, and learning preferences of each student.'ùH. Lynn Erickson, Educational ConsultantAuthor of Stirring the Head, Heart, and Soul'The approach honors the integrity of the disciplines while remaining responsive to the diversity of learners that teachers encounter.'ùJay McTighe, Educational ConsultantCoauthor of Understanding by DesignEngage students with a rich curriculum that strengthens their capacity as learners and thinkers!Based on the premise that every learner is somewhere on a path toward expertise in a content area, this resource promotes a curriculum model for developing the abilities of all students and extending the abilities of students who perform at advanced levels. The Parallel Curriculum Model (PCM) offers four curriculum parallels that incorporate the element of Ascending Intellectual Demand to help teachers determine current student performance levels and develop intellectual challenges to move learners along a continuum toward expertise. Updated throughout and reflecting state and national content standards, this new edition:Helps teachers design learning experiences that develop PreKû12 learners' analytical, critical, and creative thinking skills in each subject areaProvides a framework for planning differentiated curriculumIncludes examples of curriculum units, sample rubrics, and tables to help implement the PCM modelThe Parallel Curriculum effectively promotes educational equity and excellence by ensuring that all students are adequately challenged and supported through a multidimensional, high-quality curriculum.
 
Preface to the Second Edition
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
1. The Rationale and Guiding Principles for an Evolving Conception of Curriculum
A Word to New Readers About This Chapter

 
Reasons for Another Curriculum Model

 
Theoretical and Research-Based Underpinnings of the Parallel Curriculum Model

 
 
2. An Overview of the Parallel Curriculum Model
A Look at the Four Curriculum Parallels

 
The Core Curriculum

 
The Curriculum of Connections

 
The Curriculum of Practice

 
The Curriculum of Identity

 
Curriculum Combining the Four Parallels

 
Planning Quality Curriculum

 
Ensuring Fidelity to the Parallel Curriculum Model

 
Looking Ahead in the Book

 
 
3. Thinking About the Elements of Curriculum Design
The Big Picture

 
Planning Quality Curriculum

 
Some Key Components of Curriculum Design

 
Components of a Comprehensive Curriculum Plan

 
Content/Standards

 
Assessment

 
Introductory Activities

 
Teaching Methods

 
Learning Activities

 
Grouping Strategies

 
Products

 
Resources

 
Extension Activities

 
Differentiation Based on Learner Need (Including AID)

 
Lesson and Unit Closure

 
Remodeling a Unit Using the Comprehensive Curriculum Framework: One Teacher's Approach

 
Looking Back and Ahead

 
 
4. The Core Curriculum Parallel
Why Four Approaches to Curriculum Design? Isn't One Good Enough?

 
What Is "Core" in the Core Curriculum Parallel?

 
How Are the Key Curriculum Components Reconfigured to Achieve the Goals of the Core Curriculum Parallel?

 
Revising the Remaining Curriculum Components to Address the Goals of the Core Curriculum Parallel

 
Using the Goals of the Core Curriculum Parallel and Key Curricular Elements for Lydia Janis's Civil War Unit

 
Looking Back and Ahead

 
 
5. The Curriculum of Connections Parallel
What Is the Curriculum of Connections?

 
The Purpose of a Curriculum of Connections: Why Should a Teacher Emphasize Connections and Relationships?

 
The Curriclum of Connections: When Should I Use This Parallel?

 
The Characteristics of the Curriculum Components Within the Curriculum of Connections

 
Reconfiguring Other Curriculum Components for the Curriculum of Connections

 
An Example of the Curriculum of Connections Using the Civil War Unit

 
Looking Back and Ahead

 
 
6. The Curriculum of Practice Parallel
What Does It Mean to "Practice" in a Curriculum?

 
Why Does It Matter to Have Students Engage in the Curriculum of Practice?

 
Key Features of the Components of Curriculum in the Curriculum of Practice?

 
An Example of the Curriculum of Practice Using Lydia's Civil War Unit

 
Looking Back and Ahead

 
 
7. The Curriculum of Identity Parallel
What Does Identity Mean in the Curriculum of Identity?

 
Why Should We Be Concerned About a Student's Identity?

 
What Are the Key Features and Characteristics of Curriculum Components Within the Curriculum of Identity?

 
An Example of the Curriculum of Identity Using Lydia's Civil War Unit

 
Looking Back and Ahead

 
 
8. Ascending Intellectual Demand in the Parallel Curriculum Model: The Journey Toward Expertise
Ascending Intellectual Demand: The Path to Expertise

 
Planning Backwards From Expertise

 
Understanding the AID Continuum

 
On the Continuum Novice

 
On the Continuum Apprentice

 
On the Continuum Practitioner

 
On the Continuum Expert

 
Transitions on the AID Continuum

 
A Model for Planning Student Movement Along the AID Continuum

 
The Novice in Science

 
The Apprentice in Science

 
The Practitioner in Science

 
The Expert in Science

 
Planning the Path Toward Expertise in Science

 
The Novice in Mathematics

 
The Apprentice in Mathematics

 
The Practitioner in Mathematics

 
The Expert in Mathematics

 
The Novice in History

 
The Apprentice in History

 
The Practitioner in History

 
The Expert in History

 
The Novice in English and Language Arts

 
The Apprentice in English and Language Arts

 
The Practitioner in English and Language Arts

 
The Expert in English and Language Arts

 
Using the AID Continuum

 
 
Resource A: Teaching Resources for Chapter 8
 
References
 
Index

Praise for the First Edition:

“This thought-provoking, creative, and inspiring book contains chapters by recognized leaders in the field. The authors offer guidelines needed for developing and implementing effective, valuable curriculum for all classrooms.”

New Horizons for Learning

"As a principal and instructional leader, I have learned far more about effective instruction and powerful unit and lesson design from the Parallel Curriculum Model than anything else. PCM helps teachers not only strengthen their knowledge and pedagogy, but also rediscover a passion for their discipline based on their deeper, more connected understanding. Our students think critically and deeply at a level I have never before witnessed."

Tony Poole, Principal
Sky Vista Middle School, Aurora, CO

"What makes this book unique is its insistence on the development of conceptual understanding of content and its focus on the abilities, interests, and learning preferences of each student. The Parallel Curriculum Model provides a path for educators to move from novice to expert."

H. Lynn Erickson, Educational Consultant
Author of Stirring the Head, Heart, and Soul

"Offers a sophisticated yet doable model for curriculum planning. The approach honors the integrity of the disciplines while remaining responsive to the diversity of learners that teachers encounter. This book provides a practical pathway for connecting the content and the kids."

Jay McTighe, Educational Consultant
Coauthor of Understanding by Design

Love this

Dr Kimberly Silbaugh
School Of Education, Lesley University
March 25, 2012

This is the most in-depth and comprehensive text on constructing challenging curriculum for all students.

Ms Jo Henderson
Education, Boise State University
January 24, 2012

My class description changed to integration of technology for gifted and this is no longer needed. Excellent resource however.

Mr SANDRA CAMPIE
QUALITY LEARNING, MISSISSIPPI BEND AREA EDUCATION AGENCY
November 2, 2011

Carol Ann Tomlinson

Carol Ann Tomlinson‘s career as an educator includes 21 years as a public school teacher. She taught in high school, preschool, and middle school, and worked with heterogeneous classes as well as special classes for students identified as gifted and students with learning difficulties. Her public school career also included 12 years as a program administrator of special services for advanced and struggling learners. She was Virginia’s Teacher of the Year in 1974. She is professor of educational leadership, foundations, and pol­icy at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education; a researcher for the National Research Center on... More About Author

Sandra Kaplan

Sandra N. Kaplan has been a teacher and administrator of gifted programs in an urban school district in California. Currently, she is clinical professor in learning and instruction at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education. She has authored articles and books on the nature and scope of differenti­ated curriculum for gifted students. Her primary area of concern is modifying the core and differentiated curriculum to meet the needs of inner-city, urban, gifted learners. She is a past president of the California Association for the Gifted (CAG) and the National Asso­ciation for Gifted Children (NAGC). She has been... More About Author

Joseph S. Renzulli

Joseph S. Renzulli is professor of educational psychology at the University of Connecticut, where he also serves as director of the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. His research has focused on the identification and development of creativity and giftedness in young people and on organizational models and curricular strategies for total school improvement. A focus of his work has been on applying the strategies of gifted education to the improvement of learning for all students. He is a fellow in the American Psychological Association and was a consultant to the White House Task Force on Education of the Gifted and... More About Author

Jeanne H. Purcell

Jeanne H. Purcell is the consultant to the Connecticut State Depart­ment of Education for gifted and talented education. She is also director of UConn Mentor Connection, a nationally recognized summer mentorship program for talented teenagers that is part of the NEAG Center for Talent Development at the University of Con­necticut. Prior to her work at the State Department of Connecticut, she was an administrator for Rocky Hill Public Schools (CT); a pro­gram specialist with the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, where she worked collaboratively with other researchers on national issues related to high-achieving young... More About Author

Jann H. Leppien

Jann Leppien served as a gifted and talented coordinator in Montana prior to attending the University of Connecticut, where she earned her doctorate in gifted education and worked as a research assistant at the National Research Center for the Gifted and Talented. She has been a teacher for 24 years, spending 14 of those years working as a classroom teacher, enrichment specialist, and coordinator of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model in Montana. She is past president of the Montana Association for Gifted and Tal­ented Education. Currently, she is an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of Great Falls in Montana.... More About Author

Deborah E. Burns

Deborah E. Burns began her teaching career in 1973 as a Title I reading and mathematics teacher in a rural K-8 school in Michigan. She has worked as a K-8 classroom teacher, as a middle school language arts spe­cialist, and as a program coordinator for a seven-district consortium. She has taught in preschool, summer, and Saturday programs, in resource rooms, a psychiatric ward, an orphanage, and at the university level. She has written grants, professional development modules, journal articles, assessments, program evaluations, curriculum units, and three books. She has also designed and implemented class­room-based research studies and... More About Author

Cindy A. Strickland

Cindy A. Strickland has been a teacher for twenty-five years and has worked with students of all ages, from kindergarten to master’s degree. A member of the ASCD Differentiation Faculty Cadre, Cindy works closely with Carol Ann Tomlinson and has coauthored several books and articles with her. In the past eight years, Cindy’s consulting work has taken her to forty-six states, five provinces, and three continents where she has provided workshops on topics relating to differentiation, the Parallel Curriculum Model (PCM), and gifted education. Cindy’s publications include Staff Development Guide for the Parallel Curriculum; The Parallel... More About Author

Marcia Imbeau

Marcia B. Imbeau is an associate professor at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where she teaches graduate courses in gifted education and elementary education. She is actively involved with university/public school partnerships and teaches in a local elementary school as a university liaison. Her professional experience includes serving as a field researcher for the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, elementary teaching in the regular classroom, teaching in programs for the gifted, and coordinating university-based and Saturday programs for advanced learners.Imbeau has been a board member for the National... More About Author

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