Curriculum mapping

Answer to why curriculum mapping. Comprehensive curriculum maps promote higher achievement levels as the vision of the map is created by a team of education experts not only from within the school or system, but also includes central office personnel and instructional leaders. These education leaders involve all the teaching staff of the school to provide data and information about the content, skills, and assessments administered in their classes. Important skills, content, and assessments methods are chronologically addressed and cater to the schools academic calendar.

Teaching load of each teacher is displayed on the map and this makes it very easy to review as the issues in sequencing of instruction become obvious and can be corrected easily if required. So curriculum mapping is an effective tool to improve teaching skills of the teachers and competency levels of the learner. It is also an effective process for documenting and analyzing what is being taught and when. A very important benefit of this mapping is the teachers can quickly gauge what students mastered in the preceding grade and plan teaching without wasting time and effort on unnecessary reviewing and re-teaching.

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Precious teaching time is appropriately utilized in building skills and improves knowledge levels. A well organized curriculum map ensures same time line for a given subject topic, being uniformly practiced in all the classes of the same grade. Learning is made more relevant by identifying common points which means overlaps in course content. Interdisciplinary connections can be made by the teachers in their lesson plans. The students too identify and link information among courses and the teachers can plan lessons at a higher level.

In a nutshell all important educational and curricular activities are reflected for every classroom within a department, school, or district level. Total education of the students in a school is effectively addressed. The information is so organized that it presents and provides a timeline of instruction of the complete course for all the teachers. Hayes-Jacobs (1997) said, "Curriculum mapping amplifies the possibilities for long-range planning, short-term preparation, and clear communication”.

A curriculum map developed by the teachers in the school helps them to effectively communicate about the course content and related skills that will be used in the classroom. All teaching lesson plans are modified to cater for all the students in class. Teaching program developed in collaboration with other educators and experts in the field always have cohesive instructions because they are evolved by integrating curriculum with content standards leading to formation of customized curriculum guides. Teachers can develop a Blue print for teaching objectives to coordinate instruction both horizontally and vertically.

(Kathy Tuchman Glass 2007) shows teachers how to develop a customized, personalized process to prepare their curriculum while folding content into a larger curriculum map. Curriculum map is an excellent resource not only for teachers but helps curriculum directors, staff developers, and principals to lead there teachers to evolve an academic calendar map for a complete session to educate their students. The components of this mapping serve as a benchmark to determine what students should know and be able to do.

It provides an action plans for school leaders and provides processes to make standards manageable. Educators are able to translate there mission and vision in an effective manner. Not only the school managers the teachers are able to share resources and are able to teach beyond the facts. Public schools can plan to produce thinkers in place of core thinkers with this concept of integrated content plans. Educators who have adopted curriculum mapping, found this is a practical approach to create the culture and structure needed to effectively align curriculum and meet standards.

Roles of district leaders, curriculum directors, principals, and teacher leaders are defined pointing at leadership strategies for each phase, including discussion of roles and responsibilities. The initiative also provides information and facilitates how leaders can create professional development maps and professional roles maps. In most of the public schools it became clear that a curriculum mapping exercise was an essential backbone to any decision about innovative teaching as it highlighted the depth of innovative activity that is needed to make teaching relevant.

Innovative teaching shifts the mindset from quantitative assessment that examines what students ‘know’ to a mindset of understanding, what students are ‘learning’ (Henri, 2002). A curriculum mapping exercise initiates ‘what is taught and when’ and also assists instructors in reflecting and adjusting their own lesson units (Payne, J. 2001). When referring to teaching topics educators often talk of teaching ‘topics’. The emphasis is on ‘teaching’ and ‘topics’. To be a curriculum practitioner you require understanding academic-practice knowledge and the array of curriculum work from policymaking to evaluation.

Thomas W. Hewitt (2006). Change is inevitable hence it becomes important for students to explore and examines current issues. A good practitioner understands the necessity to keep mapping the learning path relating to current issues and trends that affect both the knowledge and the work of curriculum. When it comes to curriculum mapping, for many educators, “there is a gap between the compass and the clock – between what’s deeply important to us and the way we spend our time” (Covey, Merrill & Merrill, 1994, p. 16). Sometimes the time factor to convert perspective into practice is ignored at the managerial level.

Experienced teachers cannot digest the fact that after effectively teaching for more than a decade why they need a curriculum map. Muhammad (2009) wrote, “Educators’ personal belief systems may be the most powerful variables perpetuating learning gaps in our public school system” (p. 14). At times in order to meet the deadlines of completing the course content teacher may not account for the learning pace of the students and overlook important aspects. According to Schmoker (2006), “Mere collegiality won’t cut it. Even discussions about curricular issues or popular strategies can feel good but go nowhere.

The right image to embrace is a group of teachers who meet regularly to share, refine and assess the impact of lessons and strategies continuously to help increasing numbers of students learn at higher levels” (p. 178). References 1. Angela Koppang (2004) Curriculum Mapping: Building Collaboration and Communication Journal article by; Intervention in School & Clinic, Vol. 39 2. Bena Kallick, Jeff Colosimo, Heidi Hayes Jacobs (Jul 2008) Using Curriculum Mapping & Assessment Data To Improve Learning (Paperback) Publisher: Corwin Press 3. Janet A.

Hale, Heidi Hayes Jacobs ( 2007) A Guide To Curriculum Mapping: Planning, Implementing, And Sustaining The Process 4. Thomas W. Hewitt (2006) Understanding and shaping curriculum: what we teach and why 5. Covey, S. R. , Merrill, A. R. , & Merrill, R. R. (1994). First things first. New York: Simon & Schuster. 6. Muhammad, A. (2009). Transforming school culture: How to overcome staff division. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree. 7. Schmoker, M. (2006). Results now: How we can achieve unprecedented improvements in teaching and learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

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