Curriculum Design

Whether your organization wants to add a few lesson plans, a unit, or an entire curriculum, PACES can work with your organization’s staff to develop comprehensive research based curriculum tools. We use our knowledge of neuro-, cognitive-, and developmental-psychology to inform our designs and can provide you and your staff with the resources needed to begin developing teaching practices with the brain in mind. Additionally, our approach emphasizes a process of building on students’ knowledge of current works of art to develop their understanding and comprehension of other art forms throughout history. Below are some of the specific tasks we can help with.

Lessons - We can work independently or with your staff to develop new lesson plans that incorporate the most up-to-date brain-based research to support teaching and learning. Our lesson plan services can provide your organization with independent lessons, lessons that are part of a larger unit, or revision services based on the current curriculum used by your organization. Currently, we are able to offer lesson plan development in music and arts integration instruction.

Units - Our units consist of multiple lesson plans related to a central topic. Unlike individual lessons, these resources are used to teach your students about a broader concept that requires the development of several interdependent skills, covered in the individual lessons. We can also work with your staff to revise unit materials that are currently used by your organization. Currently, we are able to offer unit development in music and arts integration instruction.

Curriculum Alignment - Curriculum alignment can be used to show funders, schools, local education agencies (LEA), or state education agencies (SEA) how well your instructional practices are aligned with national and state educational standards. In addition to supporting your internal organization capacity to manage and evaluate your current practices, curriculum alignment documents can be used to convey your practices to grant funders and education agencies more effectively.

Instructional Resources - Our instructional resources include materials and articles that you can provide your students to help them develop their learning and understanding independently. These resources currently include practice methods, practice logging, worksheets, music theory resources, and listening/viewing lists. Additionally, we are currently seeking funds to develop computer-based resources that can help students learn more about music theory, composition, arranging, and ear training.