About the Curriculum Guide
Navigation
There are two separate menus, one on top and one on the right side of the screen. The Search button allows you to search the entire Guide for a word or phrase. Throughout the Guide, hyperlinks are indicated by underlined text. We hope that you find this format friendly and easy to use.
Format
Because the web-based format may be new to some teachers (although it is not new to this version), it may provoke some surprise. While we are happy to be more ecologically friendly by adopting a paperless alternative, there are even more compelling considerations for choosing this format:
1. Curriculum corrections and revisions are much
easier to implement in this format and old versions of the curriculum do not hang
around to cause confusion.
2. HTML format allows the guide to be much more
comprehensive than any other way it can be presented. All kinds of information
and resources related to the curriculum can not only be included but hyper-linked
to form a seamless encyclopedia of everything related to instruction at INTERLINK.
It also allows the guide to be much more interactive. And of course, the most
obvious advantage of placing the Guide on Internet is that it is always accessible
to anyone with a computer and network connection.
3. Finally, the non-linear
quality of digital data not only makes it easier to get to the desired section
of the Guide quickly with click, and to search for something using the search
function of the browser, but it makes it less likely for a part of the Guide to
assume more prominence than it should have because of where it happens to be placed
in the document.
Interactivity
The Forum is the interactive element of the Curriculum Guide and allows communication in and among centers on a variety of topics. It is the repository and submission point of Classroom Contributions and is the meeting place of the Benchmark Sample Committees. Center Staff Meeting Minutes are recorded there, announcements are posted and feedback and suggestions about any aspect of the program may be given.
Revisions
The Curriculum Guide has had three major revisions since it was introduced in 1997, the most recent in September, 2007 (Version 3.0). Minor revisions are indicated by the numeral after the decimal point; the integer is changed only when there is a major revision. The revisions of Version 3.0 were due to concerns that surfaced in various ways and at various times and places, that needed to be addressed. It was evident from Classroom Contributions and discussions reported in Staff Meeting Minutes that there were misconceptions, particularly about Core Projects, Benchmarks and Assessment that needed to be cleared up. Toward that end, curricular elements were simplified: the number of Core Projects for CS classes was reduced from 5 to 3 and the number of Benchmarks for each class was reduced from 4-5 to 2. At the same time, the Benchmarks were clarified by including samples and analyses so that teachers can more easily and accurately determine whether they have been met. In addition, greater freedom was afforded to teachers and their classes in choosing the topic and format for the Independent Reading, Independent Listening and Journal/blog Core Projects. This is not a comprehensive list of changes but an indication of why and how the curriculum was revised. The principles and tenets that are the core of the curriculum did not change at all but the mechanisms intended to put those principles and tenets into practice were modified. In other words, curricular mechanisms were adjusted to make them better able to achieve the intended goals and objectives of the curriculum.
