If you’re a CTE educator, you know it’s essential that your curriculum meets your updated standards to prepare students for career success. For your Principles of Education and Training course, you want to ensure your learners have the resources to be competent professionals who can instruct others.
But with several curriculum options available, how can you be sure you’re picking the ideal curriculum for your students? What qualities should you look for, and how is each provider different?
iCEV offers a Principles of Education and Training Course, but we understand that our solution isn’t the right fit for everybody.
In this review, you’ll find how iCEV compares with two other leading education and training curriculum providers, Texas Tech University and Goodheart-Willcox.
When you’ve finished reading, you’ll better understand what each provider offers so you can choose what’s best for your students.
iCEV Principles of Education and Training Course
The Principles of Education and Training course is part of iCEV’s extensive CTE curriculum. This curriculum is designed to introduce students to core concepts in the Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) pathway so they can succeed in various fields.
With iCEV, teachers receive access to a complete Principles of Education and Training course, including pre-built lesson plans, interactive activities, and formative and summative assessments. They’ll also gain access to several other courses in the FCS area, including Instructional Practices and Professional Communications, to provide a cohesive learning experience for students.
In addition, teachers receive access to a robust learning management system (LMS) to track student activity and report on their progress.
What Are the Benefits of iCEV?
iCEV provides an extensive curriculum for teachers to meet standards for education and training. The Principles of Education and Training course comes complete with ready-to-use lessons and resources designed around your instructional standards.
Plus, with a single subscription, instructors receive access to a library of CTE technology courses complete with ready-to-use lessons, activities, and assessments.
Through varied content, students are engaged with multiple instructional methods in a blended learning environment. With iCEV, teachers can tailor their instruction to the needs of every student, including special populations.
The iCEV digital curriculum and platform are also continually updated to satisfy changes in standards and keep students prepared for future opportunities.
What Are the Drawbacks of iCEV?
While our education and training curriculum is a great fit for many classrooms, it isn’t the right solution for everyone. Instructors who want to teach Principles of Education and Training in a more traditional, text-focused format might prefer a print-based curriculum for their classes.
Likewise, educators who want to teach a single Principles of Education and Training class might not see the value of a comprehensive CTE solution, where instructors can use multiple courses to build learners’ knowledge and skills over time.
Finally, teachers who prefer to craft lesson plans from scratch might not utilize the full library of premade plans available in the iCEV curriculum system.
Who Should Consider iCEV?
Ultimately, iCEV is designed to meet Principles of Education and Training standards and help students succeed with future professional opportunities. Through tailored multimedia content and engaging activities, students learn the fundamentals of effective pedagogy, educational philosophies, formulas for career success, and more.
It’s an excellent choice for educators who want to introduce learners to careers in teaching and training with a comprehensive blended learning experience. It’s not for teachers who favor more traditional instruction methods with less interactivity.
The Curriculum Center for Family and Consumer Sciences at Texas Tech University
The Curriculum Center for Family and Consumer Sciences is a division of Texas Tech University that produces FCS curriculum resources for teachers and students across the United States. Currently, the Center offers curriculum materials for three dozen courses in FCS and related CTE subjects.
For Principles of Education and Training, the Center provides a selection of projects and activities to enhance learners’ understanding of educational concepts. The resources are designed as a supplemental instructional package to improve instructors’ flexibility in teaching a complete Principles of Education and Training course.
When used with additional resources from another curriculum provider, the Texas Tech resources can help improve each student’s experience in an education and training class.
What Are the Benefits of This Curriculum?
Texas Tech University has an excellent reputation for providing educational materials for CTE programs, and the Curriculum Center for Family and Consumer Sciences is no exception. The organization has brought together a good selection of projects and activities to improve a Principles of Education and Training Course.
There are a wide variety of assignments for educators to choose from, which gives instructors flexibility to assign the materials that are the best fit for their classes. It’s also one of the most cost-effective curriculum resources available since teachers can access supplemental classroom materials at a lower price than purchasing a textbook or a full-fledged digital curriculum for students.
Teachers who already have a Principles textbook they enjoy may like that they can use these resources alongside other classroom materials to make book-based instruction more engaging.
What Are the Drawbacks of This Curriculum?
Although the Center offers a variety of instructional resources for teachers, it doesn’t mean that each project is easy to implement in the classroom. The projects and activities often do not have specific directions for students to complete.
While the materials can integrate with the BlackBoard LMS, the Center doesn’t offer integrations with other learning management systems, which could pose a challenge for some instructors.
Finally, it’s important to note that these resources are designed to supplement other instructional materials and are not a standalone Principles of Education and Training course. Teachers will need to look elsewhere for materials to fully meet their standards.
Who Should Consider This Curriculum?
Through the Curriculum Center for Family and Consumer Sciences, Texas Tech University offers a solid package of supplemental activities and projects for an education and training course. These resources are a great addition to an existing curriculum but struggle to stand independently as a separate instructional package.
For this reason, teachers with an effective Principles of Education and Training curriculum who are looking for additional materials will likely see the most value from this provider. Instructors starting from scratch or needing a completely new curriculum might be better served by other providers.
Teaching, 4th Edition, from Goodheart-Willcox
Goodheart-Willcox is an established publisher in the career and technical education space. To meet course standards for Principles of Teaching and Education, they offer the textbook Teaching by Sharleen L. Kato. Now in its fourth edition, Teaching thoroughly introduces the ideas and practices essential to effective instruction.
As a comprehensive textbook, Teaching offers extensive content delivered primarily in written form. However, students can complete projects and activities through Goodheart-Willcox’s online platform, and educators can integrate the materials with Google Classroom.
The textbook is adaptable for teachers to use over different course lengths and with students in special populations, such as English Language Learners.
What Are the Benefits of This Curriculum?
One of the key strengths of the Goodheart-Willcox text is the large amount of information provided. Students receive ample instruction through the book, and teachers can use included projects, activities, and presentation slides to enhance classroom instruction.
Teachers will appreciate the available course planning guides to help pace a Principles of Education and Training course to 12, 18, or 36 weeks. Pre-test and post-test options and included rubrics make the assessment process easier for instructors.
Finally, Goodheart-Wilcox offers several integrations with learning management systems and single sign-on solutions.
What Are the Drawbacks of This Curriculum?
Despite the merits of the Teaching textbook, its biggest limitation is that as a physical resource, it only provides limited ways of engaging students with content. Although the written material is extensive, students have minimal engagement with multimedia content and interactive activities to help them develop the knowledge and skills they’ll need for success.
Teachers might also find that lesson plans are organized only by book chapters rather than by class period, which could make it more difficult to plan out a unit. Lastly, some activities, such as bell ringers, can take longer to complete than the time recommended in the textbook.
Who Should Consider This Curriculum?
Ultimately, Goodheart-Willcox provides a solid textbook for instructors who prefer a traditional resource for their Principles of Education and Training class. With its high-quality content, helpful planning tools, and supplemental resources for vocabulary, teachers who prefer a conventional lecture and reading format can be successful with this resource.
However, as a physical book, Teaching doesn’t offer students a significant level of interactivity. Educators who want to teach their students with a blended learning approach will be better served using a digital curriculum that engages students through additional instructional methodologies.
Which Principles of Education and Training Curriculum is Right for You?
Determining the ideal curriculum for your Principles of Education and Training class can be challenging. After all, finding the right resource can be the difference in your learners’ success in the classroom and as future educators.
Which curriculum you choose will ultimately depend on your specific classroom needs. What is your teaching style, and what types of content do your students best engage with? Do your standards require you to cover particular material?
Depending on your answers to these questions, you might favor one of these curriculum providers over the other.
But if you're looking for a comprehensive Principles of Education and Training course to meet your standards and set your students up for success, consider iCEV. You can use this interactive course to meet your standards and give your students an engaging learning experience.
Could iCEV be the right fit for your students? Sign up for a free trial to receive full access to the curriculum and decide if it suits your program.
