AERO:SBC (Standards-Based Curriculum)
at the Potomac School
English Language Arts curriculum Design Institute
June 22-27, 2008
The purpose of this one week institute is to help overseas schools educators learn and practice the principles of standards-based curriculum design. The initiative brings teams of teachers and curriculum coordinators from participating schools together to collaborate in curriculum unit design. Participants will leave the institute with some completed units and the knowledge to train colleagues at their schools in the process of curriculum development using standards and a backward design approach.
The AERO English language arts standards are a high quality, challenging and professionally validated set of standards which have been successfully adopted or adapted by many overseas schools. Although the work will be based on the standards developed by Project AERO, it is not required that schools have adopted the standards. Participants are asked to bring with them samples of existing units and curriculum maps they would like to review and revise. An expectation for participation is that completed units will be submitted for collaborative review and for possible posting on the AERO web site.
The workshop will include sessions on:
- The relationship of standards and benchmarks to curriculum
- Distribution and review of the AERO English standards
- Strategies for using the standards and benchmarks
- Development of a unit using the backward design process
- Planning time for team members to discuss using the process at their home schools
Participants may choose to take this course for university credit and apply this credit to the AERO Certificate in Curriculum through SUNY Buffalo. Applications will be available in the spring. For course participants earning university credit, the cost is $500. (For participants who are not earning university credit, there is no charge for the workshop.)
The workshop will be limited to 20 participants. Therefore, as in previous years, registration will be accepted on a space-available basis. Interested schools are asked to commit to sending a team consisting of either a curriculum coordinator and at least one teacher or a team of 2-3 teachers.
Please send or fax the completed registration form by March 14, 2008 to:
Lorna Little, Office of Overseas Schools
U.S. Department of State, Room H 328-SA1
Washington, DC 20522-0132
FAX (202) 261-8224
