MEtaMorph Development

Curriculum Process:

The MEtaMorph development process was a fast-paced, collaborative effort. The working team consisted of 23 people, representing five Ohio counties and nine school districts, as well as the Center for Occupational Research and Development and the Dayton Chamber of Commerce. This team was led by the project director, who guided each stage of the project from start up through launch to ensure work was completed in one year.

A curriculum specialist used lesson templates to create a focused, functional model for capturing content. These templates were based on the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory instructional model and customized for MEtaMorph by the curriculum specialist. In conjunction with the core team, they defined a core sequence of lessons to define the curriculum scope and make sure the curriculum prepared students to make informed choices in the tenth grade.

The initial content development process was focused and accelerated. In one intense week, the cross-functional working team translated the curriculum flow into specific competencies, brainstormed lesson activities, identified relevant career-based Web sites to support the Web-based activity structure, and fleshed out lesson and activity content using the pre-established templates. Sub-teams of two or three teachers and career coordinators collaborated to develop one lesson each from the targeted curriculum flow.

By the end of the week, the sub-teams presented their lesson concept, content, activities and grading rubrics, and identified and demonstrated possible Web links. Additional assessment tools, in the form of a teacher assessment of the curriculum and both a pre and posttest for the ninth grade pilot participants and tenth grade control group, were also developed.

Review & Refinement:

Once the intensive development phase was complete, the curriculum specialist, career expert, and consortium staff reviewed the content. The core unifying theme of transformation and the term MEtaMorph were created. Once the lessons and activities were developed, they were edited, refined, and translated into a Web-based format. The curriculum was subjected to an objective peer review conducted by non-participating ninth grade English teachers, and revisions and refinements were executed. Simultaneously, research criteria and pre and posttest was developed by an independent researcher.

Pilot Process:

The first implementation step involved administering the pretest to the ninth grade students slated to participate in the MEtaMorph pilot test and a control group of tenth graders who did not participate in MEtaMorph. Then, nine teachers used the MEtaMorph pilot test version of the curriculum guide to conduct the lessons in their ninth grade English language arts classes. The teachers used latitude in executing the curriculum, and as with all tests, some teachers were unable to or chose not to use all the lessons. The posttest was administered to MEtaMorph pilot participants only.

For information regarding the research results and effectiveness of the MEtaMorph pilot go here.

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