This paper reports on research conducted as part of the International Instructional System Study that explored five subject areas across nine jurisdictions in six high-performing countries. The Study's overall aim was to understand what, if anything, there is in common in the curricula and assessment arrangements among the high-performing jurisdictions to see if there are aspects of instructional system design that might account, in part, for high performance. This paper focuses on social studies which in most jurisdictions includes elements of history, geography and citizenship and highlights a number of emerging issues. These include the advantages and disadvantages of teaching history and geography separately or within a social studies programme; the extent to which key concepts are embedded within the social studies/history/geography curricula; whether the level of demand should be considered in terms of a generic taxonomy or in terms of subject specific models; how progression might be defined and considerations of an appropriate balance between teacher assessment and external assessment.
KEYWORDS: Education reform, social studies, history, geography, citizenship, national curriculum, International Instructional System Study, Center for International Education Benchmarking
The Alberta Kâ9 Mathematics Program of Studies with Achievement Indicators has been derived from The Common Curriculum Framework for Kâ9 Mathematics: Western and Northern Canadian Protocol, May 2006 (the Common Curriculum Framework). The program of studies incorporates the conceptual framework for Kindergarten to. 1 An example of this is financial literacy â see Pinto, L.E. Alberta's curriculum is enshrined through programs of study as. Assessment and the continuous, timely exchange between teachers and students about student. The Persuasive Writing in Context Assignment is a practical writing exercise.
The curriculum framework for mathematics identifies beliefs about math, general and specific student outcomes, and illustrative examples agreed upon by the six jurisdictions of Western Canada (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon Territory, and the Northwest Territories). The intent is to communicate clearly high expectations for students in mathematics education and facilitate the development of common learning resources. The Alberta Program identifies student outcomes organized within four strands. The strands form the foundation of the common framework and serve as connections across the grades. The strands with their substrands are as follows: Number--Number Concepts, Number Operations; Patterns and Relations--Patterns, Variables and Equations, Relations and Functions; Shape and Space--Measurement, 3-D Objects and 2-D Shapes, Transformations; and Statistics and Probabilility--Data Analysis, Chance and Uncertainty. The content is stated in terms of student outcomes that are measurable and identify what students are expected to know and do. General outcomes identify what students are expected to know. Specific outcomes are given to identify the component knowledge, skills, and attitudes of a general outcome. Illustrative examples are given to demonstrate the general and specific outcomes. (AIM)