DESE Curriculum Development & Instructional Strategies 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A district wants to ensure all 5th-grade students across schools receive equivalent instruction. They create a shared pacing guide, unit plans, and assessments. This is an example of:
- Curriculum compacting
- Curriculum mapping
- Standardized curriculum alignment
- Horizontal alignment (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Horizontal alignment
Horizontal alignment ensures consistency of curriculum content, pacing, and assessment across classrooms at the same grade level.
Question 2: Which learning theory emphasizes reinforcement and the shaping of observable behavior through stimulus-response patterns?
- Cognitivism
- Constructivism
- Behaviorism (Correct answer)
- Humanism
Correct answer: Behaviorism
Behaviorism, associated with Skinner and Pavlov, focuses on observable behavior changed through reinforcement and conditioning.
Question 3: A teacher pre-assesses students and discovers several already mastered the upcoming unit's content. The MOST appropriate response is to:
- Have those students repeat the unit for reinforcement
- Compact the curriculum and provide enrichment or acceleration for those students (Correct answer)
- Ignore the results and teach the unit to all students equally
- Group those students together and assign them as peer tutors only
Correct answer: Compact the curriculum and provide enrichment or acceleration for those students
Curriculum compacting eliminates already-mastered content and replaces it with enrichment or acceleration for advanced learners.
Question 4: According to Bloom's Taxonomy (revised), which of the following tasks requires the HIGHEST level of cognitive demand?
- Summarizing a chapter in your own words
- Applying a formula to solve a new problem
- Evaluating two conflicting historical interpretations
- Creating an original solution to a complex design challenge (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Creating an original solution to a complex design challenge
In the revised Bloom's Taxonomy, 'Create' is the highest level, requiring students to synthesize knowledge into something new.
Question 5: A high school teacher integrates English Language Arts and Social Studies by having students analyze primary source documents and write persuasive essays about historical events. This is an example of:
- Correlated curriculum design (Correct answer)
- Subject-centered design
- Learner-centered design
- Core curriculum design
Correct answer: Correlated curriculum design
Correlated curriculum design links two or more subjects while maintaining their individual integrity, connecting them around shared themes or skills.
Question 6: A teacher provides sentence frames and visual supports to English Language Learners during a science lesson. These are examples of:
- Modifications
- Scaffolds (Correct answer)
- Extensions
- Accommodations
Correct answer: Scaffolds
Scaffolds are temporary instructional supports that help students access and complete tasks they could not do independently yet.
Question 7: Which curriculum development model is most associated with Ralph Tyler and focuses on four fundamental questions about purpose, experience, organization, and evaluation?
- Taba Model
- Tyler Rationale (Correct answer)
- Wiggins-McTighe UbD Model
- Hunter Lesson Design Model
Correct answer: Tyler Rationale
The Tyler Rationale outlines four questions: What purposes? What experiences? How to organize? How to evaluate?—forming the foundation of curriculum theory.
DESE Curriculum Development & Instructional Strategies 4
A district wants to ensure all 5th-grade students across schools receive equivalent instruction.
They create a shared pacing guide, unit plans, and assessments.
This is an example of: