Evaluating Curriculum for
Social Skills or Violence Prevention
- Does the curriculum address the skills your students need to learn?
- Is there any cultural, ethnic, socio-economic, language, or gender bias evident in the materials? Will this curriculum teach students to understand and accept each other regardless of bias or prejudice?
- Does the curriculum encourage students to develop their own unique personality traits, interests, and opinions while also teaching tolerance, conflict resolution, problem solving, and peer resistance skills?
- Does it teach students about self-control, feelings, etc.?
- Is there a parent component (such as parent newsletters) explaining the purpose of each unit, family homework, parenting ideas, etc., which will encourage parent involvement and support?
- Does it fit within your financial and time budget?
- Do the activities provided utilize a variety of learning styles to reach more students? Does the curriculum provide active participation in the form of role-plays, cooperative games, or writing ideas? Are there extension activities provided for various subject areas?
- Does it provide the necessary teacher instruction manuals and/or training? Is the instruction manual clear and easy to follow? What is the ease of use (clear lesson plans, materials supplied, etc.)? Are there clear written objectives that support or match your instructional objectives? How well will the program integrate into your existing curriculum?
- Is the program research based? Does it provide a pre- and posttest so you can evaluate student success? Does it have a proven record of success? Will the company provide you with the names and phone numbers of other schools using the curriculum so you can talk to other professionals?
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