Business, Marketing, and
Diversified Occupations
Curriculum Review
May 23, 2007
Presenters
• Dr. Alice M. Hirsch, Assistant
Superintendent for Curriculum
• Tammy Andreyko, Principal, Ingomar
Middle School
• Cynthia Yingling, Department Chair
• Cynthia Lang, Teacher
• Chris Sestili, Teacher
Outline of Presentation
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History
Curriculum Review Process
Department Content and Vision
Review Recommendations
History
“We
can chart our future clearly
and wisely only when we know the
path which has led to the present.”
Adlai Stevenson, 1952
History
• Last Business Curriculum Review
– April, 1993
– 14 years ago
History
• Business classes were thought of as vocational.
• The World Wide Web did not exist.
• The First version of Windows had yet to be
introduced.
• In 1993, AOL introduced email over the
Internet.
History
• The European Union was in its infancy
(February, 1992).
• The North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) was launched January, 1994.
• The word globalization was not in everyday
vocabulary.
• U.S. corporations were a safe haven for workers
and investors.
Curriculum Review Process
“Good process is always the key.”
Michael Johanns
Curriculum Review Process
• Curriculum Management Team
• Curriculum Review Team
“None of us is as smart as all of us.”
Ken Blanchard
Curriculum Review Process
• Subcommittee Formation
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Identification of Key Contacts
Empirical Research/Data Collection
Seminars
Exemplary Programs/Site
Visits/Curriculum from Exemplary
Districts/Best Practices
– Standards
– Organization
Curriculum Review Process
• Identification of Key Contacts
– State and Government Officials in Business,
Marketing, and Diversified Occupations
– Textbook Publishers
– Other Similar High Schools
– State and Local DECA and FBLA
– Colleges and Universities
– Researchers
– Relevant Websites
Curriculum Review Process
• Empirical Research/Data Collection
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Articulation
General Business, Accounting, and Honors
Marketing
Diversified Occupations and Vocational
Education
Entrepreneurship
Keyboarding and Computer Skills
Technology
Finance
International Business
Curriculum Review Process
• Seminars
– Pennsylvania Business Education Association
(PBEA) Conference
November 17-18, 2005
– Twenty-Seventh Annual Pennsylvania
Cooperative Education Conference
October 20-21, 2005
– Robert Morris University, Business
Education Regional Conference
May 2, 2005
Curriculum Review Process
Exemplary Programs/Site Visits
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Bethel Park
Fox Chapel
Franklin Regional
Mt. Lebanon
Pine-Richland
Seneca Valley
Upper St. Clair
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Central Bucks
Hampton
Lower Moreland
Peters Township
South Fayette
Tredyffrin-Easttown
Unionville-Chadds Ford
Curriculum Review Process
• Standards
- PA State Standards for Economics
- PA State Standards for Career Education
and Work
- PA State Standards for Family and
Consumer Sciences
- Financial and Resource Management
- Balancing Family, Work, and Community
Responsibility
Curriculum Review Process
• Standards
- PA State Standards for Science and
Technology
- 3 Technology Sections
- National Standards for Business
Education
Survey
• 91.4% of 1179 students surveyed
plan to attend a four year college.
• 43 of 1179 or less than 4% plan to
move directly into the workforce.
Survey
• 808 students say that they choose a course
based on personal interest.
• After personal interest, the ranked order of
reasons why students select a course is:
– Course content.
– Career exploration.
– Graduation requirements.
Curriculum Review Process
• Organization
- Recommendations finalized from learning
gained from curriculum review activities
Business, Marketing &
Diversified Occupations
Content
Misconceptions/Myths
Incorrect Beliefs:
– Vocational/Workforce Prep Only
– Not Dynamic
– Lacks Academic Rigor
Content
• Multifaceted
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Accounting
Business Law
Career Development
Communication
Computation
Personal Finance
Investments
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Entrepreneurship
Information Technology
International Business
Management
Marketing
Economics
Purpose
• Multifaceted
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College Preparation
Career Exploration
Real Life Application (FBLA, DECA, Co-op)
Workforce Ready
Vision
“We are now at a point where we must
educate our children in what no one
knew yesterday, and prepare our schools
for what no one knows yet.”
Margaret Mead
Vision
• To create a visionary and dynamic 21st
century curriculum based on research,
aligned to standards, providing
opportunities for every North Allegheny
student.
“Vision is not seeing things as they
are, but as they will be.”
Inspirational Poster
Vision
• The curriculum will prepare students to
succeed in the global environment in any
endeavor they choose to pursue. The academic
rigor will meet or exceed any that they will
encounter upon leaving this program.
Vision
• As technology has become a foundation in
today’s society, students will be given the
opportunity to understand what technology is
available and how to use it to their individual
and organization’s advantage.
• Without a thorough knowledge and skill level
in the use of technology, students will find it
difficult to compete in a global environment.
Recommendations
“The best way to predict the future
is to invent it.”
Alan C. Kay, Veteran of
Arpanet (now Internet)
Recommendation #1
• Change the Department Name to
Business, Computer, and
Information Technology
Department (BCIT).
Recommendation #2
• Consider Keyboarding and
Computer Applications as required
courses prior to ninth grade.
Recommendation #2
1.
Consider providing keyboarding skills and
techniques by grade seven, if scheduling
permits. A teacher who is certified and/or has
taken a methods course of teaching typing
skills should teach keyboarding.
2.
Consider providing the application of
intermediate skills using Word Processing,
Spreadsheet, and Database software by grade
seven.
Recommendation #2
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Consider updating the content of the
Keyboarding/Microsoft Word course offered
to students in grades 9-12 based on current
technology needs.
4.
If funds become available, consider the
addition of one wireless, mobile or stationary,
computer lab per middle school building to
support the teaching of Keyboarding and
Computer Applications.
Recommendation #2
5.
Any of the above potential course changes
should be addressed through the Program of
Studies process whereby all course additions
or deletions are evaluated and recommended.
Keyboarding
• Volumes of research show that
keyboarding is a vital skill, which should
be taught to all students.
• School districts all around the country
and in the local area are working it into
their curriculum prior to grade nine.
Keyboarding
• Keyboarding Skills Contribute to
Improvements in:
– Reading, spelling, and writing ability.
– Efficiency in using the computer as a tool,
thereby, maximizing classroom time.
– Attitude toward writing—less frustration in
looking for keys rather than entering
information.
Keyboarding
• Keyboarding Skill Contributes to
Improvements in:
– Motivating all students toward doing
schoolwork.
– Creative thought.
– Integrating keyboarding within all subject
areas.
– Preparing all students for a technological
society.
Keyboarding
• Keyboarding is a psychomotor skill which
requires at least 25-30 hours of
instruction/practice to master.
• A teacher who is certified and/or has taken a
methods course in teaching the skill should
teach keyboarding.
Keyboarding
• Our State Standards require all students to
demonstrate age appropriate keyboarding skills
and techniques by grade seven.
• Eleven of the thirteen school districts studied
have Keyboarding as mandatory for at least nine
weeks somewhere between grades four and eight.
Nine of those districts require Keyboarding in
grade six or seven.
Computer Applications
• Computing technology has a positive effect
on learning and teaching in the primary and
secondary grades. There is a range of
effects such as:
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Increased time on task.
Higher test scores.
Lower cost.
Increased motivation.
Computer Applications
• PA State standards require that students
apply intermediate skills using Word
Processing, Spreadsheet, and Database
software by grade seven.
Computer Applications
• Computer Applications courses are
required at some point from seventh
grade through tenth grade in ten
different school districts studied and
ranged in length from nine weeks in one
year to a required semester every year
from grade seven through ten.
Recommendation #3
• Consider the Addition of a Visual
Basic Course through the
University of Pittsburgh’s College
in High School Program.
Recommendation #3
1. Consider the addition of two semesters (one
year) of a Visual Basic course to the existing
curriculum at the 11th and 12th grade levels.
Students in the second semester will be able to
take advantage of the University of
Pittsburgh’s College in High School Program
and receive three college credits for
completion of the course.
2. North Allegheny currently offers University of
Pittsburgh’s College in High School
opportunities in English (Honors Argument)
and Math (Introduction to Probability and
Statistics and Honors Calculus).
Recommendation #3
• Visual Basic is easy to learn, which makes it an
excellent tool for understanding elementary
programming concepts.
• Visual Basic has evolved into such a powerful
and popular product that skilled Visual Basic
programmers are in demand in the job market.
Recommendation #3
• Franklin Regional offers a full year to grades
9-12, Deer Lakes offers one semester to
students in grades 11-12, Peters Township and
Upper St. Clair offer a full year to grades 1012, Seneca Valley and South Fayette offer a full
year to grades 9-12.
• Franklin Regional and Seneca Valley offer
credit through the University of Pittsburgh’s
College in High School Program.
Recommendation #4
• Consider Expanding Web Page
Design to the Tenth Grade Level.
Recommendation #5
• Modify the Diversified
Occupations Program from a two
year to a one year program.
1. Eliminate the Exploring Occupations
Course.
2. Eliminate the Supervision and
Advancement Course.
Recommendation #6
• Consider the Addition of an Honors
Finance and Investment
Management Course.
Albert Einstein once declared compound
interest to be . . .
“the most powerful force in the universe.”
Honors Finance and
Investment Management
• The topic and the honors rigor are both
lacking in the current business
curriculum.
• The course would take Personal Finance
to the next level and allow students to
explore the topic as it would apply to a
very lucrative career.
Honors Finance and Investment
Management
• The top Business Schools offer Finance as a
major, including:
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CMU
NYU
Notre Dame
Michigan State
Harvard (Financial Management)
MIT (Financial Management and Financial
Engineering)
• Locally:
– Robert Morris University
– Duquesne University
Recommendation #7
• Consider the Addition of an
Honors International Business
Course.
1. In order to prepare students to interact
successfully in a global environment,
consider the addition of an Honors
International Business course to the
curriculum in place of the eliminated
Exploring Occupations Course.
Honors International Business Course
• One in five jobs in the United States
depends on international trade.
• Most large U.S. corporations now
derive approximately half of their net
income from operations outside the
country compared to one-tenth in the
1950s.
Honors International Business Course
• The National Business Education
Association 2001 standards outline a
comprehensive set of performance
standards for teaching international
business. These standards focus on the
following areas:
Honors International Business Course
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International trade foundations
Global business environment
International business communications
Global business ethics
Organizational structures
Trade relations
International management
International marketing
International finance
Recommendation #8
• If the Budget Permits, Update
Content of Classroom Resource
Materials through the Purchase of
Accounting and Honors
Accounting Textbooks.
Recommendation #9
• Technology Needs
– Enhance instruction through the expanded
use of technology through consideration of
the addition of Smart Boards and Proxima
projectors in all Department classrooms.
– Consider acquiring the above technology
over the next five years based on availability
of funds through grants and the zero based
budgeting process.
Business, Computer, and Information
Technology Department Curriculum
• Updated and Revised North Allegheny
Standards
• Developed Learner Objectives
– PA Standards
– National Standards
– NA Benchmarks
Next Steps
• Seek Approval of the Proposed
Written Curriculum
• Consider the Planning of Year I of the
Proposed Implementation Plan
From "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman:
"Every morning, when the sun comes up, the
gazelle knows they must run faster than the
fastest lion, or they will be eaten.
Every morning, when the sun comes up, the lion
knows, they must run faster than the slowest
gazelle, or they will starve.
It doesn't matter if you're a lion or a gazelle,
when the sun comes up, you'd better be
running."
So tell me - have you started running yet?
Concluding Comments
“But . . .
Nothing will ever be attempted, if all
possible objections
must be first overcome. "
Samuel Johnson, in Rasselas, 1759
“Great Expectations…
The Best Is Yet To Come!”