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"Rigorous Curriculum Design is a model for designing or redesigning curriculum so that it truly represents a rigorous 21st-century set of comprehensive units of study aligned with existing state and the new Common Core State Standards." www.leadandlearn.com Larry Ainsworth developed RCD so busy teachers could develop curriculum.
At its heart RCD is a system teachers can use to create units. Its intention is to increase the rigor found in Alvord classrooms. This is accomplished with a "student-centered curriculum."
"A rigorous curriculum must keep students at the center of its design. Although such a curriculum is based on a preset list of necessary components, in no way does this imply that rigor should be equated to rigidity. A rigorous curriculum must remain flexible, adaptable to the diverse and continuously changing learning needs of all the students it serves. By deliberately planning and creating engaging classroom learning experiences, the authors of a rigorous curriculum can provide the means for both new and experienced teachers to motivate reluctant, insecure learners as well as those students who have disengaged from learning out of disinterest or outright boredom. One of the ways rigorous curriculum design can help teachers address these challenges is by offering students precise learning targets, meaningful and relevant lessons and activities, and multiple opportunities to succeed." (Ainsworth Rigorous Curriculum Design p.8)
photo from www.solution-tree.com
Below is a graphic of the system used to create the Rigorous Curriculum Design Units. It represents the system used to create the units.
