1703 North Beauregard St. Step by step instructions for completing the curriculum mapping process. You are not yet considering the delivery of the information but simply the information that is needed. Perhaps a group of staff members reviews the K–12 maps and sees the absence of district standards to guide overarching decisions. Schools have used faculty meetings, release time, summer workshops, and other methods to provide the opportunity to study large and complex issues. With the increase in genuine communication, refinement of curriculum is a real possibility. A number of issues are commonly raised in this initial task. Before personal computers, mapping in the '70s and early '80s was influenced largely by Fenwick English, a prominent curriculum leader and powerful theoretician. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. What do you want your students to do, know, or feel at the end of the program? Curriculum mapping is a process for collecting and recording curriculum-related data that identifies core skills and content taught, processes employed, and assessments used for each subject area and … When striving for alignment, it is critical to start with the end in mind. It is based largely on the work of Heidi … the taught curriculum, English (1980) introduced the process of curriculum mapping that describes “what is actually being taught, how long it is being taught, and the match between what is being taught and the district’s testing program” (p. 559). What if I teach themes?” The purpose of the map is to reveal what is actually going on in the curriculum, so the design of the map should reflect such themes. It is not a decision-making procedure, and delaying judgment is critical. Both general and specific comments will arise. You must start with the end in mind! I won't give up Dickens! A key variable is the size of the faculty. Clearly, the most striking and effective way to gather mapping data is on a computer. On the secondary level, some teachers deal initially with interdisciplinary teams and others deal with departments. Alexandria, VA 22311-1714. My experience is that mapping provides an opportunity for professional discussion about curriculum articulation and planning. First, start with the end in mind! A curriculum map for a subject consists of a collection of unit plans that align to a set of the content standards. If you have been teaching for longer than three minutes, you know that things … Coordinators cannot fill out maps; principals cannot; department chairs cannot fill them out for everyone for the simple reason that they are not in each classroom. • Develop an internal process for sharing the curriculum map with new faculty and instructors, for example at an annual departmental training for new faculty or instructors. It is strange that a curriculum area is reviewed at the arbitrary five-year point. People in the district appear to make decisions in isolation. This involves lesson planning strategies, instructional strategies, classroom management, and other considerations. On occasion, I have seen reluctant staff members afraid that a principal is out to get them because they didn't get to the unit on “Preventing the Overuse of the Gerund in English” or the project on “My Trip to the Fire Department.” Clarify the task of mapping and acknowledge that no one ever “does it all” during the course of the school year. I have found it of great help to show teachers a number of sample maps to model the level and type of work that is required (see Appendix III). The map or matrix: Documents what is taught and when This makes data collection efficient. I recall a scene when a teacher stomped a foot down, refusing to rethink the placement of a 19th century British Authors unit: “No! The next chapter describes the specific tasks and opportunities that each member of a faculty can employ with an initial draft of a curriculum map. Frequently, there are glaring repetitions that can be addressed by the exchange of ideas between a few faculty members. I have worked in a few schools reflecting this philosophy and find that they rely heavily on the maps to foster communication. • Use the curriculum map to plan assessment efforts. My experience is that people like these groups. In the past, it was inefficient to do so. Curriculum mapping — the process of making a curriculum map — is the practice of aligning skills to classes … The result is an inaccurate portrayal of the school year. When each teacher becomes a curriculum editor, the professional level of the entire school is elevated. Technology eases that task, notes Jacobs, who is president of educational consulting firm Curriculum Designers in Rye, N. Y. In the case of the flower analogy (see Curriculum Alignment infographic), the flower is often the last part of the plant to grow and develop. Start with a matrix that lines up the program's required courses (curriculum) on one axis and the Program Learning Outcomes (and also College Competencies) along the other. This is a way to take full advantage of not only immediate data gathering but networking and communication among buildings as well. Curriculum mapping is the process indexing or diagramming a curriculum to identify and address academic gaps, redundancies, and misalignments for purposes of improving the overall … Figure 1 provides a graphic representation of this process. When it's time for small group review, the groups should be composed of people who do not work together. The point is not to teach to the months but to use the months as a common reference to plot the classroom curriculum. The opportunity to share with familiar teacher teams and partners will come, but delaying that step only heightens the power of this process. Hence, teachers should simply state the areas in which they gained information, the places where they located gaps, repetitions, potential areas for integration, mismatches between outcomes and curriculum, and meaningful and nonmeaningful assessments. For example, in one elementary school both a 3rd and 4th grade team dealt with the Colonial Period in U.S. history. The 4th grade would move directly into the American Revolution, making more time to deal with areas where students had limited exposure, such as the Declaration of Independence. I believe this practice emerged because there were no viable alternatives. These might include self-check quizzes, classroom activities as guided practice, independent activities as homework, or even simple partner-pair-share activities. Once you have identified or written the course learning objectives, circle back to ensure alignment with the program goals. Some ask, “What if I don't teach in the disciplines? Curriculum mapping is the process indexing or diagraming a curriculum to identify and address academic gaps, redundancies, and misalignments for purposes of improving the overall … With a range of options on the table, a group is more likely to stay flexible and arrive at an optimum solution. Others follow a “diary” method as previously mentioned, which requires a disciplined schedule. In those days, mapping was accomplished … The teacher's task isn't to rewrite or even to make suggestions. When it is clear to the faculty and administration that a major area of work needs significant research, the site-based curriculum cabinet should set up a task force to investigate a range of potential solutions. In a sense, it is a discrimination task. The leader of the large group review, whether it is the principal or a teacher leader, posts these findings, then asks the audience to comment on emerging patterns. to standards and learning targets. This sheet will assist the faculty in compiling the data for the next phase: the large group review of findings. Teachers reported how much time they spent on topics to promote “alignment” (English 1980). 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. There is infinitely more to teach than there is time to teach it. Video clips in which Heidi Hayes Jacobs discusses the Four Phases of Curriculum Mapping outlined in her book with Ann Johnson. A task force might outline two or three different assessment series for writing between elementary and middle school; three or four different scheduling and teaming configurations for the 9th grade interdisciplinary program; and two different ways to review potential standards and outcomes that have been successful in similar districts. Next, you must decide what skills, knowledge or attitudes you want the students to achieve by the end of the course. Curriculum mapping values the contributions of each educator who shared the responsibility for the learning journey of the school's students. It is actually a very doable task. If the faculty is larger, then returning to instructional units—such as grade-level teams, house teams, or departments—makes greater sense. This is the information students will need and might include a textbook, open educational resources, videos, supplemental resources, learning objects, software or web tools, and others. Learn more about our permissions policy and submit your request online. If teachers take significantly longer than this, there is some misunderstanding about the scope of the task or they do not want to complete the task. Curriculum mapping is a method used to align instruction with a degree program’s learning outcomes. But now we have a means for ongoing, systematic, immediate, and long-range planning. Technology is growing at breakneck speed. Whether these first maps are done with paper and pencil or on a computer, eventually all maps will be on a computer. Curriculum mapping is a method to align instruction with desired goals and program outcomes. The achievement of the course objectives should provide students what they need to eventually achieve the program goals. I recommend that teachers underline those content, skill, or assessment areas that are new to them. Students should be allowed to test the waters before diving directly into a high stakes exam. The maps reveal that creative writing projects abound at both levels, but the only nonfiction writing listed at both levels is “reports.” When will formal essay writing be introduced? More significantly, the task now is to show student work as it actually happens in the classroom and in relation to state or district standards. Address For example, there might be a “gap” in a series of assessments between the elementary and middle school writing program. Without sample maps, this description of mapping appears daunting. The maps will give the elementary and middle school teachers an opportunity to settle these issues without blaming each other for the gaps. Traditional curriculum committees can be replaced with lively, strategic investigations based on the authentic data available through mapping. Because someone else met with teachers, recorded what they said, and typed up the findings, almost all maps went through a third party. Teachers using calendar-based maps share realistic data about the curriculum in their building. The curriculum should grow and evolve in a dynamic fashion. The map (matrix) documents what is taught and when; identifies when a student learning outcome is introduced, practiced, mastered, and assessed; identifies reveals gaps in the curriculum… It is very important that teachers work alone for the first read-through. Curriculum maps are created for each subject and grade level. When mapping curriculum, this is where we need to start. A curriculum map is a visual layout of a subject’s education standards (from states, certifications, etc.) If you are in a small school where faculty size is 10 to 25, it is perfectly workable to stay in the large group. Align units, lessons, activities, assessments, etc. There are 5 curriculum mapping steps critical to ensuring alignment from beginning to end (or from end to beginning!). Simply put, it is the creation of a map showing the path of both teaching and learning from start to finish. I do not want to suggest that such points are always easily resolved. STEP 4: PLAN FOR FORMATIVE COURSE ASSESSMENT. Perusing the maps in the Appendix might clarify the required degree of detail. Our PD Services pages will show you samples of the different types of workshops that faculty members have facilitated in schools, districts, and organizations for each of the mapping … a Select one consistent format for all to use. Some teachers ask, “What if I only follow the students' interests, because we are an inquiry-based program?” In this instance, a more diary-based collection should occur, where teachers record the ongoing program in real-time. Whether the information is written on a large sheet of butcher paper with the months as headings, index cards, standard 8 1/2" by 11" sheets of paper, or the screen on a computer terminal, an extraordinary act occurs. General Curriculum Mapping Materials. Most schools use time already designated for department, area, or faculty meetings to do this work. Frequently, schools and districts have five-year reviews of a designated subject area, which smacks of a pro forma approach rather than one generated out of real need. The purpose of this phase is for each teacher to place realistic data about what he or she teaches in the course of the academic year on a macro level. If a high school considers the possibility of interdisciplinary work for 9th graders, everyone will need time to examine the implications for school structures. The mapping process readily shows the repercussions of even a modest decision about the curriculum. Editors are caring but detached. No one can complete a map for anyone else; otherwise, the data are false. It is critical that each teacher completes a calendar-based map. Examples might include traditional exams, case studies, research essays, projects, and more. Monday through Friday No part of this publication—including the drawings, graphs, illustrations, or chapters, except for brief quotations in The important point here is that the faculty is now moving from a review mode to an editing, revising, and developing mode. Next, you need to identify and plan activities or assignments that will allow both you and your students to informally assess their achievement of the course objectives. These assessments are often formal, graded or ungraded, higher stakes activities, assignments, and exams that call on the students to demonstrate mastery of the course objectives. In this phase, each teacher describes three major elements that comprise the curriculum on the curriculum map: Highly specific information about daily lesson plans isn't needed. They examine a manuscript for problems, but they do so in the context of improving quality. All rights reserved. Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. Before this meeting, the facilitators of each small group review session have reported on the findings of the small group sessions. ASCD respects intellectual property rights and adheres to the laws governing them. including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from ASCD. •Calendar based curriculum mapping is a process for collecting data representative of the operational (real) curriculum in a school and/or district – in “real” time •Curriculum maps provide the basis for the authentic examination and analysis of the data base (real curriculum) Heidi Hayes Jacobs Curriculum Mapping … Mapping's big picture affords the opportunity to consider both small-scale and large-scale steps to improve student performance. Revisit, Review, Redo. Sequentially list courses and insert program outcomes: Using one of the curriculum mapping tools (basic or enhanced) the faculty member (s) leading the process lists (in the columns of the tool) courses in … Most individual elementary teachers find it takes about one hour to complete the “content” portion of the map for one school year. “Technology is absolutely essential to curriculum mapping,” she adds. Curriculum mapping lets educators collect and record curriculum-related data that identifies the core skills and content taught, the processes employed and the assessments used for each subject area and grade level. Use the cells in the matrix to iden… The completed curriculum map … Finally, examples are given of how curriculum mapping … The unit plans define the scope of the content being c… With computers, it is now possible to register more complete information about content, skills, and performance assessment in real time. “C urriculum mapping is a procedure for collecting data about the operational curriculum in a school or district referenced directly to the calendar. The time frame for the individual teacher's read-through obviously depends on the number of classroom teachers in the building. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. But with a thorough, critical reading of the maps, each teacher gains an appreciation for his or her role in the flow of curriculum through the years, significantly more detailed knowledge of the school's curriculum, and insight into the school's needs. Teachers should look for repetitions, gaps, meaningful assessments, matches with standards, potential areas for integration, and timeliness (tasks described in greater detail in Chapter 3). A critical decision at this juncture is whether to break into instructional units or stay as the larger group. With lists of observations in hand, the faculty starts to sift through the data and determine areas that can be handled by faculty members, teams, and administrators. The key is to follow the actual instructional pattern for learners in the building. Electronic File Requests for Students with Print Disabilities, The content in terms of essential concepts and topics, or the content as examined in essential questions (see Chapter 4); and. However, by prioritizing content at each grade level and ensuring teachers are successfully navigating their instruction using the same "map… Principals are wise to reassure teachers that mapping is not used for evaluation purposes. When students began to study the period again in 4th grade, they complained that they “had Colonial before.” Given the packed nature of the 4th grade curriculum, the two grade-level teams negotiated and agreed that the 3rd grade would take over Colonial America and broaden the local and state perspective to include the other colonies.