The Legacies and Lessons From the Largest Teacher-Driven Curriculum Project in Modern Educational History

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Four
  In Roundtable Session: The Praxis of Teachers: Responding to Reform (Table 2)

Abstract

A decade ago, the Standards and Instructional Support team for the Colorado Department of Education, began drafting an unprecedented proposal to recruit educators from across the state to create open source curricula for 10 academic content areas. The Sample Curriculum Project eventually involved over 5000 teacher-authors. The project illuminates teachers as willing and capable professionals, possessing the pedagogical knowledge to create compelling curricula and it invites us to consider opportunities that allow teachers to utilize their professional knowledge and judgement. The project illuminates the parallels between contexts that allow teachers to engage, create, and collaborate and the classroom contexts we want for students. The project is an argument in favor of making commonplace these conditions and opportunities for teachers.

Authors

• Brian R Sevier, California State University - Channel Islands
  Presenting Author

• Joanna Bruno, Colorado Department of Education
  Presenting Author

• Karol Gates, Colorado Springs School District 11
  Presenting Author