MTEL Curriculum Development and Design 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A curriculum committee wants to evaluate whether the curriculum is effective. Which data source would be MOST useful for this purpose?
- Teacher attendance records
- Student performance data on standardized assessments (Correct answer)
- The number of textbooks purchased
- School building maintenance reports
Correct answer: Student performance data on standardized assessments
Student performance data on assessments directly measures whether students are achieving the intended learning outcomes of the curriculum.
Question 2: The 'hidden curriculum' in a school MOST likely refers to:
- Elective courses not listed in the course catalog
- Unwritten norms, values, and behaviors implicitly taught through school culture (Correct answer)
- Advanced coursework for gifted students
- Remedial content for struggling learners
Correct answer: Unwritten norms, values, and behaviors implicitly taught through school culture
The hidden curriculum encompasses implicit lessons about social norms, values, and behaviors communicated through school routines, rules, and culture.
Question 3: Which approach to curriculum integration links content from two or more subject areas around a central theme?
- Differentiated instruction
- Interdisciplinary curriculum (Correct answer)
- Mastery learning
- Competency-based progression
Correct answer: Interdisciplinary curriculum
Interdisciplinary curriculum weaves together content from multiple disciplines around a unifying theme or concept to provide connected learning experiences.
Question 4: A high school redesigns its curriculum to focus on real-world problems that students investigate over extended periods. This approach is BEST described as:
- Direct instruction model
- Project-based learning curriculum (Correct answer)
- Rote memorization curriculum
- Behaviorist curriculum design
Correct answer: Project-based learning curriculum
Project-based learning centers curriculum around authentic, extended investigations of real-world problems, promoting deeper understanding and skill development.
Question 5: According to Tyler's Rationale, which of the following questions should curriculum developers answer FIRST?
- How can we determine whether the purposes are being attained?
- What educational experiences can attain these purposes?
- What educational purposes should the school seek to attain? (Correct answer)
- How can these experiences be effectively organized?
Correct answer: What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?
Tyler's Rationale begins with defining educational purposes (goals), then selecting experiences, organizing them, and finally evaluating their attainment.
Question 6: A curriculum that is designed specifically to reflect and validate the cultural backgrounds and experiences of all students is known as:
- Null curriculum
- Culturally responsive curriculum (Correct answer)
- Standardized curriculum
- Remedial curriculum
Correct answer: Culturally responsive curriculum
Culturally responsive curriculum incorporates students' cultural backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to make learning more relevant and equitable.
Question 7: In differentiated curriculum design, what does 'tiered assignments' refer to?
- Assignments worth different point values for grading purposes
- Tasks at varying levels of complexity addressing the same core concept (Correct answer)
- Homework assigned on different days of the week
- Projects completed in stages over a semester
Correct answer: Tasks at varying levels of complexity addressing the same core concept
Tiered assignments provide multiple versions of a task at different complexity levels so all students engage with the same concept but at an appropriate challenge level.
MTEL Curriculum Development and Design 3
A curriculum committee wants to evaluate whether the curriculum is effective.
Which data source would be MOST useful for this purpose?