Curriculum Mapping

Curriculum Mapping
Kathleen Maloney
July 13, 2010
Curriculum mapping is a procedure for actively collecting, recording, and reviewing the operational curriculum at any educational setting. Each teacher in the school participates in this process by entering critical information about what is actually being addressed through content, skills, and assessment, and essential questions. The completed curriculum map then becomes a tool to help teachers keep track of what has been taught and plan what will be taught next. Curriculum mapping is based largely on the work of Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs, Mapping the Big Picture: Integrating Curriculum and Assessment K-12 (ASCD, 1997) and Getting Results with Curriculum Mapping (2004, ASCD).
What makes this approach unique is that each teacher in the school enters information regarding what is actually taught in real-time throughout the year, as opposed to having an outside source, or separate committee, making speculations. The information is displayed via internet-based programs and is open to view by all personnel in a school or district. Curriculum maps are records of implemented instruction—what has been taught already—as opposed to pacing guides, which project what will be taught in the future. They can be aligned both horizontally and vertically: across subject areas within a grade level or following one standard of a subject area through grades k to 12. The ultimate goal is that teachers use this record to make informed decisions regarding the most effective path of their students’ education.
The curriculum mapping model, as originally defined by Dr. Jacobs, has seven specific steps that schools use to thoroughly examine and then revise their curriculum (Star, 2006):
• Phase 1: Data collection.
• Phase 2: A review of all maps by all teachers.
• Phase 3: Small mixed group reviews, in which groups of five to eight diverse faculty members share individual findings
• Phase 4: Large group comparisons, in which all faculty members gather to examine the findings of the smaller groups.
• Phase 5: Identification of immediate revision points and creation of a timetable for resolution.
• Phase 6: Identification of points requiring additional research and planning, and a timetable for resolution of those points.
• Phase 7: Planning for the next review cycle.
“Curriculum Designers” is the company that represents Heidi Hayes Jacobs, as well as her products and services. A complete description of curriculum mapping can be found on the company website. In this website, the impact of mapping is described as follows (www.curriculumdesigners.com):
"In short, it is not having maps that improve performance, it is using them with these attributes in practice. The attributes include:
• A specific observable and measurable proficiency
• Ongoing collection of performance data; item analysis of those data
• Review both horizontally and vertically among the actual people responsible for instruction
• Adjustments to the instruction based on the item analysis
• Planning time on a regular basis for review of student performance among the people who share the care and instruction for the target population
• Sufficient time to allow for sustained growth among the students
I would suggest that the result of mapping is deliberate accountability; precision articulation of common student performance goals both horizontally and vertically; and ongoing review of those goals IN REAL TIME."
Some states have adopted or mandated curriculum mapping. Examples of this include South Dakota, Kentucky, and Indiana. Mapping software is currently available through commercial companies and not-for-profit groups. Examples of curriculum mapping are plentiful online, allowing one to see that curriculum is a “work in progress,” not a one-time initiative.
Heidi Hayes Jacobs’ website:
http://www.curriculumdesigners.com
Other excellent resources:
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/virtualwkshp/virtualwkshp004.shtml
http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Curriculum%20Mapping/Index.htm