Running head: JYT2 Task Two: Standards-Based Lesson Plan Alignment
JYT2, Curriculum Design, Task 2
Western Governors University
Introductio
n
My instructional setting addressed is a first-grade classroom within a small district. The
class consists of 20 students, 8 boys and 12 girls—16 of them being English Language
Learners. ELLs get pulled out throughout the day for LEP resources. Native languages spoken
in my classroom are English, Spanish, and Russian. Ages range from 6-8 and are also
addressed in the discussion of human development theories. Many of my students read and
write below grade level. Engage New York is the curriculum used for mathematics and ELA.
Educational Methodology Strengths and Weaknesses of Standards-Based Curriculum
A standards-based curriculum is designed and written by looking at local, state, and
national standards and aligning the instructional activities and assessments to meet those
standards. With this methodology, the curriculum is “always under review, as the design
should evolve to meet student needs,” (Martin-Kneip, 2000, as cited in Knapp-Witt, 2017,
p.4). Strengths of a standards-based curriculum are that there’s clarity in what outcomes are
expected because they align with the standards, and that there’s alignment in assessments,
activities, and objectives, (Knapp-Witt, 2017). Another strength is that standards-based levels
the playing field because the grade-level expectations are the same across the board with
schools and districts that use standards-based, (No Author, 2014). Weaknesses of a standards-
based curriculum are that it lacks flexibility in outcomes and that it lacks models of practice or
specific strategies to reach standards (Martin-Kniep, 2000).
