This book, Getting Results with Curriculum Mapping, paves the way for educators involved in or considering curriculum mapping projects. As Johnson and Johnson state, “Curriculum mapping became the centerpiece that focused the district's work on raising student achievement.
- Focus on Research That Commences the Prologue
- Draft an Action Plan
- Choose the Technology Template for Curriculum and
- Plant Seeds to Ensure That Mapping Becomes Part
There is no question that plans change, but it is critical to have a plan to act on in the beginning of the mapping process. Documenting the curriculum mapping process. Documentation, or "mapping", the mapping process is the logical outgrowth of advanced research.
Mapping to Build a Learning Community
When teachers asked questions like, "Do all students write research papers in high school?" and "When do we ensure that skills in a domain are learned?" The answer was: "It depends." What a student was taught depended entirely on the student's teacher. Community Size: Three separate communities exist in the district, each consisting of a secondary school with its feeder schools.
Consensus Map
Sometimes the physical education teacher sees a gap in the seventh grade health curriculum. What should be consistent in the United States is the ability to express our views in an active democracy (Glickman, 2003a).
Transformed a District
Ankeny Community School District has transformed its leadership structure as a result of the curriculum mapping process. The district curriculum team revised the standard curriculum mapping form to fit the needs of school staff development plans (see Appendix 4).
Some of his tasks include making recommendations regarding course and curriculum changes, plus monitoring the curriculum mapping process. On the first professional development day in August, I introduced curriculum mapping to the entire faculty. Curriculum Mapping's Effect It is exciting to see the initial and sustained effect that curriculum mapping has had.
Faculty members can refresh their curriculum when they sit down to write out their first draft with curriculum mapping. Often, the essential questions we use in curriculum mapping help faculty members prioritize what's important. Finally, during our work mapping curricula for teachers in grades 6–12, a new course application form was introduced, shown in Figure 5-4.
For the sake of every student, it is vital that we continue the curriculum planning initiative to completion.
Curriculum Mapping Process
Teacher as Editor
As in the previous example from Maryville High School, the school did an admirable job of guiding its staff members through the first reading (see Figure 6.7 for a description of the process used at Maryville High School). The composition of these small groups should be decided by looking carefully at staff dynamics. Directions: As you read a series of maps, record relevant information under each of the following categories.
The completion of the data collection phase of the mapping process is the end of the beginning. Step One Spend about 6–8 minutes (really!) reading each card so you can complete part one of the review process. Step Six What puzzled you as a reader unfamiliar with this part of the curriculum.
You and your teachers will create an enhanced teaching and learning environment based on student needs.
Using Assessment Data to Inform Decisions
What is the frequency of essential questions, content and skills in maps within a particular course or class. Questions might include, "Did all teachers take all of their assessments?" and "How do we understand the data we see?". Another critical analysis of a particular test may show a range of performance on the state math test.
We see four critical challenges that must be addressed as schools seek to become 21st century learning communities. They now face two changes in the way they think about teaching: (1) they must document on a map what they address from month to month, and (2) they must learn to use a piece of software. To move to the use of technology so that we can improve organizational processes, we must develop the training and technical support systems necessary to successfully implement information technology.
We also need to develop realistic expectations about the pace of implementation of such a process.
Organizing the Data School districts with site-based manage-
We must learn how to have such conversations without fear of peer or administrative evaluations.
Knowing What We Need to Know
Map sharing is often the first public documentation of what teachers are teaching in their classrooms, which is a big change for most schools and essential for making the most of maps and technology. It is at this point where tenacity and faith play a key role, as it takes time for the unspoken question to find its solution in an innovation. One of the most important issues when choosing software from a vendor is the depth of teaching and technology expertise, plus the integration between these two levels of expertise required to adapt technology to the work of educators.
The next step is to develop a clear plan to obtain and deploy the expertise and resources, as everyone faces the challenges inherent in implementing mapping. The procurement and management of expertise and resources to perform mapping requires strong district leadership. Leaders should have a clear, long-term vision for mapping while methodically, carefully, and persistently transferring new knowledge and technology and fostering a culture of inquiry among district educators.
It is important to understand that these responsibilities must be assumed by the districts in conjunction with their vendors to make the mapping and technology work.
Education Settings
At the beginning of the new school year, the teachers attended classes on how to write curriculum maps and what format they would use. Using technology made this task simpler and allowed teachers to cut and paste into the next month what was not covered in the previous month. At the end of the first year, teachers were asked to complete an anonymous survey about their reactions to curriculum mapping.
At the start of the second year, administrators introduced two more schools to curriculum mapping. An anonymous survey was completed at the end of the second year and the response was very positive. A comparison of the curriculum maps developed from the beginning of the first year to the end of the second year shows marked improvement and growth.
With two years of mapping completed, there has been an ongoing improvement in the quality of the maps and the teachers' satisfaction with the process.
It is important to reflect on this notion because – due to limited time – tests can only assess a small part of skills and a random selection of facts. The map focuses the collective efforts of staff members on the exact skills their school's students need to address. It's like the radar on an airplane—the pilot not only needs information about where the stormy weather is, he or she needs to use that information to change course.
Teachers collaboratively developed a set of standard tasks that gradually built through the grades and focused on the exact skills that required attention. This is the week the teachers at my school will focus on the things I need to work on.” The match is made between the rubric and the skills addressed and assessed on the map.
Associated online coursework can respond directly to the assessment benchmarks posted on the map by educators.
Curriculum Mapping: Mixed-Group and Like-Group Review Protocol
In small cross-curricular groups, complete the items listed on the Response to Curriculum Mapping worksheets. Questions related to items on the curriculum cards that may need to be addressed. Designate one person to neatly write down the information discussed in the group on the Curriculum Mapping Response Sheets.
Curriculum Mapping: Mixed-Group and Like-Group Review Protocol (cont.)
Math District Map/Curriculum Framework
Math District Map/Curriculum Framework (cont.)
Social Studies District Map/Curriculum Framework
Social Studies District Map/Curriculum Framework (cont.)
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers (cont.)
I also encourage faculty members to map what they actually do in the classroom, not what they wish they were doing. It is important to remember that curriculum mapping is a tool to show the curriculum reality in the classroom, not to develop a new curriculum and then map it. Because curriculum mapping is a substantial initiative, how will we find the time to do it well.
Otherwise, faculty members will see curriculum mapping as just another "thing on my plate." Curriculum mapping can be successfully completed without using essential questions, but their absence can inhibit complete curriculum renewal, especially with an individual teacher's curriculum. Several faculty members at Minnehaha Academy felt that without significant questions, they would not have been excited to move forward with curriculum mapping.
I do not believe essential questions should be a requirement for curriculum mapping, but rather should be strongly encouraged.
Checklist for Curriculum Mapping I. Gain information
Checklist for Curriculum Mapping (cont.) Determine a timetable for action
Curriculum Map Information Sheet for the First Read-Through
Curriculum Map Information Sheet for the First Read-Through (cont.)
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (Producer). 1999). Curriculum mapping: Mapping the course for curriculum content. The Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts, where she last served as principal, is featured on the ASCD tape set, "Curriculum Mapping: Charting the Course for Content." You can contact her at [email protected]. Heidi Hayes Jacobs is president of Curriculum Designers, Inc., and director of the Center for Curriculum Mapping.
Additionally, she worked with administrators and staff members to analyze data from the district's curriculum planning and assessment process to identify the need for professional development in instructional strategies within the district. He teaches both introductory classes on curriculum design for new teachers and credit courses on curriculum design and research-based instructional strategies approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. In his previous position as Director of Curriculum (PreK–12), he led Minnehaha Academy through the adoption and implementation of curriculum mapping.
Valerie Truesdale led South Carolina's District Five in the curriculum mapping initiative as the chief instructional services officer.
