Aligning Curriculum to Core Content Standards

Aligning curriculum and standards, for the purposes of this paper should be thought of as just that, aligning, compared to teaching to the Core Content Standards (CCS). When creating or revising curriculum, it is prudent to align the curriculum with the Core Content Standards for the grade/content area. The standards should be the base for the curriculum, with the curriculum serving as a guide with resources such as formative and summative assessments, projects, mapping and projects.
Curriculum is defined as a plan used for classroom teachers that defines the scope, content, standards and time frame for a specific course. The definition for the standards used as the base for the curriculum is statement(s) that define what the student needs to know, understand and/or be able to perform.
The CCS and curriculum for a particular content area/grade level should be aligned in a way that lends rigor and relevance to the classroom instruction. The CCS and curriculum should also provide some uniformity across the content, without stifling the teacher creativity in delivering the lesson: it should result in curriculum that is a helpful guide.
There are many benefits to aligning curriculum with the CCS, outside of ensuring compliance to NJ Department of Education policies and requirements. One benefit is that it clearly establishes expectations and goals for both teachers and students to achieve. These expectations and goals are seen in the listed CCS as well as in formative and summative assessments included in the curriculum mapping. With the clearly defined expectations and goals through alignment with the CCS, student achievement on relevant state standardized exams should improve, as the students are being taught the content that will appear on the exams. Another benefit to aligning curriculum with CCS, especially when teamed with curriculum mapping, is that the end result will be a greater resource to educators because it will allow them to share resources and create some uniformity and cross-curricular alignment.
There are some drawbacks to aligning curriculum with CCS. One of them is that teachers could begin to “teach to the test” rather than align content with the CCS. Another drawback is that educators could rely strictly on the contents of the curriculum, thus squelching any creativity or differentiation that might otherwise be of greater benefit to the students. Another drawback is the difficulty some districts have in acquiring the necessary teacher buy-in necessary to make the alignment successful. Some teachers think their way is the best way, and are unwilling to let go of the curriculum they have created, or are unwilling to share assessments and other information with other teachers.