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Communities: Informal Education Organizations

Informal education plays an important role in promoting learning. The term informal education often connotes, at first glance, something less valuable than formal education.  Nothing can be further from the truth. In their book, How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom, Donovan and Bransford write, "Much that each human being knows about the world is acquired informally."  Often less structured than the classroom, this type of education takes place in a variety of settings from historical sites to planetariums, from museums to zoos. Informal education provides the opportunity for students to take an interest in their own learning and development. Informal education provides pathways along which children can explore topics and questions that spark their curiosity and help them develop their skills in inquiry. Organizations of informal education must be cognizant of how their policies, programs, offerings, and actions can impact and enhance student learning.

The Rhode Island Statewide Curriculum is designed to support quality education for all children in Rhode Island and encompasses the key elements of high quality instruction and assessment: student engagement, an environment conducive to learning, access for all students, the use of questions to monitor and promote student understanding, and the support needed for students to make sense of content. One of the main goals of the interactive Rhode Island Statewide Curriculum is to help all partners know that each is vital in contributing to learning and teaching. The Rhode Island Statewide Curriculum demonstrates effective instructional techniques, provides professional development for educators, and offers resources for all who share responsibility in the education of the youth of Rhode Island.

As an informal educator, you may use this Web site to:

• Discover the Shared Beliefs that support the process of building this curriculum.
• Access the Grade Level and Grade Span Expectations (GLEs and GSEs) for all grades from kindergarten to grade twelve.
• Refer to the instructional continuums which are designed to more clearly demonstrate the learning involved in the GLEs and GSEs.
  
• View Lesson Plans linked to the GLEs and GSEs.
• View Lesson Video Clips (some from Rhode Island schools), which demonstrate the type of classroom activities used to teach certain skills and concepts.
• View samples of Student Work related to many of these lessons.
• Explore informational documents and PowerPoint presentations.
• Explore Online Learning.
• Access other resources for informal education organizations as school partners.

Like any research-based educational model, the Statewide Curriculum is dynamic and evolving. All partners are encouraged to identify how they may contribute and participate in order to improve student achievement.

Thank you for visiting the Rhode Island Statewide Curriculum Web site. Your feedback is welcomed.

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