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Curriculum mapping contributes to conveying a single, unified
curriculum objective across subjects and grade levels. It
provides teachers with a look at the big instructional picture,
a look at the message they are sending to students, and what
students are experiencing everyday. Schoolwide curriculum
mapping involves charting core concepts and standards by
subject and grade level. This process can reveal both overlap
and gaps in instruction, as well as suggest natural possibilities
for integration across subject areas.
The process outlined here is one suggestion for curriculum
mapping (Worksheet/Handout—Curriculum
Mapping Chart). Adjustments or additions are made in light
of their effect on achieving the standards. This curriculum
mapping model is implemented through five phases:
Phase 1: Teachers individually chart exactly what they
teach—core concepts, standards, and skills. What
they chart should be aligned with the standards they are
required to teach.
Phase 2: Teachers bring their
charts to a grade level or departmental Learning Team session
for comparison. The goal is to ensure that there is consistency
in what is being taught. Together, the teachers should develop
a shared plan that is supported by the standards.
Phase 3: Teachers meet with other subject area teachers
at their grade level and compare charts. Their task is
to find ways to consolidate core concepts, standards, and
skills so as to support each other through the timely introduction
of concepts. Elementary teachers will have accomplished
much of this within step two but may need to meet with
special area teachers at this time.
Phase 4: Teachers should share their charts with subject
area teachers at the grade levels above and below their
grade level looking for content and skill gaps, unnecessary
overlaps, and areas where attention to the standards may
need reinforcement based on the performance data.
Phase 5: Across campus articulation
provides an opportunity for vertical teams to articulate
their curriculum and address ways to support a logical progression
of knowledge and skills.
Next:
Module 4. Evaluating Change
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