Introduction to Religion
Curriculum Guide
Forming Disciples for the
New Evangelization: Archdiocesan
Religion Curriculum Guide
Archdiocese
for the
Military
Services,
USA
Session II: Curriculum Design
and Purpose
Dr. Harry J. Dudley
Key questions and concepts…

How was this guide created?

What is it?

How is it better?

What are the implications for textbooks?

What is the aim of this guide?
How was this guide created by the
Archdiocese of Washington?
Principles embodied in the development process:
Communication, Consultation and Collaboration.
– 11 member task force
– 18 readers and subject areas experts
– 21 programs piloted the curriculum with 250 parish
and school catechists.
– Approval at each stage by the Archbishop.
What is it?
 The Standards and Indicators in this Guide clearly state
what participants in every Catholic faith community
religious education program must:
– know,
– understand and
– do at each grade level (Pre-K to 8).
 This tool – although written with children in mind, also
has implications for young adults and youth in the
Archdiocese because it provides a common language and
agreed upon standards for sharing the faith.
Effort was made to incorporate the
emphasis in Vatican II:
Greater Understanding of
– the Sacred Scriptures
– Social Justice
– Human Sexuality/Family Life/ Age Appropriate
Theology of the Body
– Evangelization
– Ecumenism
– Inter-religious dialogue and understanding.
Forming Disciples for the New
Evangelization is recommended because:
 Context for all catechesis is Evangelization
 Better connect faith and life
 Emphasis on the six key elements of a
Catholic life
Brief exercise
 Recall one truth of the faith that you learned
as a child; what was it and how did you
learn it?
 Bonus question:
– What impact this truth had on your life?
 You may send your comments by chat.
This chart shows the Key elements and standards
and how they relate to the Four pillars of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church.
This chart shows how disciples’need to live out their
faith in Community of the Church and in service to
the World.
How is this Guide different?
This Guide will challenge all of us to grow
because it is:
– Standards-based
– Tied to its own assessment
– Spiral in scope and sequence
What is meant by Standards-Based?
 In the field of education, a standard is a term
which defines a cumulative body of knowledge
and set of competencies that is the basis for
quality education.
 They express what all program participants must
know, understand and do at each grade level but
do not dictate how they are to be taught.
For Each Element
For example:
Key Element IV: Prayer
 There are standards or
broad headings
Each Standard
 Each standard in turn has indicators for each
grade of knowledge, skills or behavior.
As we look at the curriculum note:
The numbering system:
Grade, Standard and then
indicators.
1.08.01
Underlining – means this
is a vocabulary word to
know.
1.08.01
means
Grade: 1
Standard #8
Indicator # 1.
Indicators
 These indicators are there to:
– help us to focus our instruction and
– guide our use of any texts or resources.
 This allows us to have a true alignment
of language, instruction and
assessment.
A note about assessment
 Many people don’t believe that one should or can
assess religious education efforts.
 It may be more proper to say that one can not
assess faith.
 What can be assessed is how well one has learned
the language, practices and general knowledge of
the faith tradition.
Why tie the Guide to its own
assessment?
 When such an assessment is tied to a guide and
offered by the Archdiocese:
– Each program participant’s progress towards attaining
the standards can be measured.
– Those who are not achieving the standards can also be
provided with early, effective assistance.
– This is tied to our partnership with the family:
catechetical leaders and catechists need to see
themselves as accountable to the parents of those who
are enrolled.
This new assessment will help:
 To align language to be learned with
assessment and instruction.
 To promote accountability because current
assessments have been both inadequate and
inconsistently done
 To measure our success.
Because when an aligned assessment is
offered by the Archdiocese, we can improve
our instruction for all.
Pause:
Discuss among yourselves:
How might be this new guide be a resource
for the New Evangelization?
- Send in your comments – so we can share
them as best practice.
What is meant by a spiral scope and
sequence?
 The learners return to each topic each year, in
an ever deeper fashion.
 By following the same sequence of ideas, one
after the other, a learner has a better chance of
retaining it!
 In a single Catholic faith community– all ages
can be studying the same theme at the same
time…homilies might also cover some of the
same topics.
Here are examples of how spiral scope and
sequence works from Key Element VI
What are the implications?
 Clear expectations for the teaching of the
faith
 Accountability through assessment
 Greater opportunity for all the partners in
the catechetical process to return to each
topic each year in an ever deeper way
by using the resources provided.
What additional resources have been
created to help in implementation?
In the next session we will review what resources
are being provided on the AMS website:
for Catechetical Leaders
for Catechists
for Parents
What does it mean for textbooks?
 No need to change textbooks. Use the USCCB Conformity
List to select textbooks that meet the needs of your
Catholic faith community.
 Textbooks will be reviewed in light of how well they align
with AMS curriculum standards.
 The standards will help catechists to know what
to focus on in the textbook.
 Publishers will do correlations of their series
to the curriculum guide so everyone can clearly see when
additional resources might be needed.
 Best resources will be collected, shared and made
available on-line: www.milarch.org.
What is the aim of this guide?
– To support integrated planning and preparations
across all sectors of the Archdiocese for the
Military Services, USA including our
communities and families.
– Although this first phase of the guide focuses
on the formation of children, these standards
will also provide a framework for future efforts
in the faith formation of adults and youth.
Next steps today?
The next presentation will:
 Review what resources will be available to help
you, your catechists and families.
 Clarify expectations for each role.
 Give you opportunity:
– to give input on what additional resources are
needed for full implementation in the next
program year starting August 6, 2013.