Paper Topic:

Curriculum Design and Evaluation

Cultural Issues in Middle School

Middle school is one of the most difficult situations of transition . Middle schoolers are awkward , hard to deal with and confused . They aren 't children but certainly not adults . They are egocentric to say the least and have little concern for the consequences of their actions . Yet , they are also one of the best ages to work with if one is willing to try to understand their difficult lives

The culture in middle school can be broken down as such : sexuality intellect , and social status . Sexually , these

students have to deal with their changing bodies and feelings . They also have to try to understand how these feelings and changes fit in appropriately within the community . This is the area they are most sensitive toward

Intellectually , students have to decide if being smart ' is something they are willing to do . In some environments , being smart is cool , so those students who are gifted have no trouble fitting in . In other schools , these students are outcasts . When it is not cool to be smart , many students have a hard decision to make . If they show their gifts , they may sacrifice social standing . When it is cool , the struggling students feel even more left out and troubled . At times these students may even act dumber to try to hide how much they truly struggle

Social status varies with each school environment . Wealth possessions , address , family legacy and athletic ability are all indicators of success . Middle school is a contest and students are constantly scrutinizing each other to see who will win , popularity being the prize , of course . There are leaders and followers the status symbols then change as the leaders themselves change . Whether it is the newest clothing label , shoe or track star , the culture of middle school is dominated by judgment Evaluation

The Illuminative Model of Evaluation rests its assessment on process . It appraises based on qualitative analysis of a situation in to understand its initiation as clearly as its conclusion . Thus in to evaluate a situation , one must observe the effects of the process not simply look at data . The following tools of assessment are based upon that model and are applied to the curriculum overall Several lessons will be used that typify the learning environment created within the classroom

Evaluation One : How does this lesson provide skills that work outside the testing environment

To evaluate this lesson , the calendar of lessons was assessed Questions were asked such as , how do the lessons flow and what overall messages are the students receiving ? Can they define , find and apply the concepts discussed in class

Upon reviewing the lessons , they seem to present isolated concepts The entire unit is research process and narrative writing techniques which are two genres and should be taught separately . These lessons are trying to do way too much too fast . Middle school students are more successful when you break the process down and connect it to real world reasons for completing...

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