Curriculum: An Administrative Perspective

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Curriculum An Administrative Perspective

• Seton Hall
• B. Strobert and R. Hyman
• December 2005

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Agenda

• Curriculum
• Types of curriculum
• Challenges and strengths of curriculum in your
  district
• Curriculum philosophy
• Components of a quality curriculum
• Implementation

• Mapping
• Benefits
• Preparation
• Process
• Assessment

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TYPES OF CURRICULUM
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Types of Curriculum

• The recommended curriculum derives from experts
  in the field. Almost every discipline-based
  professional group has promulgated curriculum
  standards for its field.

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Types of Curriculum

• The written curriculum is found in the documents
  produced by the state, the school system, the
  school, and the classroom teacher, specifying
  what is to be taught.
• Usually include a curriculum guide and a
  scope-and-sequence chart

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Types of Curriculum

• The supported curriculum is the one for which
  there are complimentary instructional materials
  available, such as textbooks, software, and
  multimedia resources.

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Types of Curriculum

• The tested curriculum is the one embodied in
  tests developed by the state, school system, and
  teachers. The term "test" is used broadly here to
  include standardized tests, competency tests, and
  performance assessments.

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Types of Curriculum

• The taught curriculum is the one that teachers
  actually deliver.

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Types of Curriculum

• The learned curriculum is the bottom-line
  curriculumwhat students learn. Clearly it is the
  most important of all.

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Types of Curriculum

• The hidden curriculum (a term coined by Jackson,
  1968) is the unintended curriculum-what students
  learn from the school's culture and climate. It
  includes such elements as the use of time,
  allocation of space, funding for programs and
  activities, and disciplinary policies and
  practices.

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Types of Curriculum

• The excluded curriculum is what has been left
  out, either intentionally or unintentionally.
  Eisner (1979) terms this the "null curriculum,"
  since it is not readily apparent.

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Activity 1

• Independently reflect on your personal curriculum
  philosophy and related beliefs.
• 2. Find a partner and decide who will listen and
  who will share.
• - Sharer talks for 1-2 minutes about philosophy
  and beliefs
• - Listener activly listens and then reflects
  back what he/she heard without adding his/her
  own views.
• Switch roles.
• 4. Using large chart paper, create a Venn diagram
  of each persons philosophy and beliefs and the
  commonalities.

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Activity 1
Philosophy Beliefs of Person A
Philosophy Beliefs of Person B
COMMONALITIES
DIFFERENCES
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Activity 2

• What are the challenges that your school/district
  is facing in relation to curriculum?
• What are the strengths that your school/district
  has in relation to curriculum?

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Activity 2

• Curriculum-related Challenges

• Curriculum-related
• Strengths

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Curriculum Quality
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What constitutes ahigh-quality curriculum?The
Research
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Quality Curriculum

• Allow students to study in greater depth
• Embed learning strategies to solve problems
• Prioritize to acquire the essential skills and
  knowledge of the subjects
• Meets students' individual differences
• Multiyear, sequential study - not stand-alone
  courses

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Quality Curriculum

• Emphasis on both the academic and the real-world
  skills
• Integrated and interdisciplinary
• Project, problem and inquiry-based
• Achievement of a limited number of essential
  curriculum objectives, rather than trying to
  cover too many
• Emphasis on the learned vs. the taught curriculum

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Activity 3

• Independently, make a list of the components of a
  quality curriculum that you will want curriculum
  designers to consider.
• 2. Work in a small team, share your list, and
  develop a combined list without repetition (use
  large chart paper).
• Speak out for or against each component on the
  list.
• Past the list around and have each team member
  prioritize the list by placing a number next to
  the corresponding components they believe are
  important.
• Prioritize the list according to the teams
  consensus using a different color marker.

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Curriculum Planning and Mapping
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3 Essential Questions

• In relation to our curriculum
• 1. Where are we now?
• 2. Where do we want to be?
• 3. What do we do to get there?

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Curriculum Planning

• 1. Where are we now?
• In relation to our current curriculum, what are
  the challenges we are facing?
• Internal Scan Collecting data
• Talk to teachers
• Conduct a survey
• Parental perceptions
• Quantitative data
• Materials and resources

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Curriculum Planning

• 2. Where do we want to be?
• In relation to our curriculum vision, what do we
  want our curriculum to be?
• Internal Scan Collecting data
• Talk to teachers
• Conduct a survey
• Parental perceptions
• Quantitative data
• Finances

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Curriculum Planning

• 2. Where do we want to be?
• In relation to our curriculum vision, what do we
  want our curriculum to be?
• External Scan Collecting data
• Experts and National organizations
• State standards
• Local concerns
• Materials that are available

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Curriculum Planning

• 3. What do we do to get there?
• In relation to finances, staffing, etc
• Long-term
• What are the things we need to plan for?
• Short-term
• What are the things we can fix now?

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1. What is curriculum mapping?

• Curriculum mapping is a tool for achieving
  standards-based, curriculum-focused school
  improvement. It records the actual taught
  curriculum in a classroom, school, or district.
• It is a collaborative process that helps teachers
  and administrators develop a picture of teaching
  and learning across a district or school.

Questions
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Teachers

• Teachers enter three types of data
• Content (key concepts, essential questions)
• Specific skills (often based on state standards)
• Assessments (tests, products, or performances).

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Ultimately, curriculum mapping leads to alignment
of curriculum, instruction, and assessment so
there is coherency and consistency with standards.
Questions
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2. What are the goals of curriculum mapping?

• align what and how they teach with specific
  standards
• enrich instruction by using a variety of teaching
  strategies that advance equity and excellence
• connect and reinforce learning across the
  curriculum
• develop classroom assessments that match learning
  expectations and predict success on standardized
  tests.

Questions
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3. Why Map?

• School districts striving to help teachers and
  administrators build the capacity to strengthen
  instruction should involve them in creating an
  overarching K12 curriculum that aligns the
  written, taught, and tested curricula.
• It is particularly important for school districts
  looking to align their curriculum with standards
  to have a document that accurately describes all
  that is taught.

Questions
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• A curriculum map serves this purpose by
  identifying the actual taught curriculum and
  allowing teachers to compare their curriculum
  with that of others who teach the same grade or
  subject, to view curriculum content
  longitudinally, and, ultimately, to compare their
  curriculum with state or national standards.
• Though teachers may work together in the same
  building for years, they usually have sketchy
  knowledge about what goes on in each other's
  classrooms.

Questions
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• High school teachers on the same corridor have no
  clue as to their colleagues' books, concepts, and
  assignments.
• A middle school team may work diligently on its
  specific program but have limited information
  about any other team in the building.
• Elementary schools can be nurturing environments
  but fundamentally a collection of one-room
  schoolhouses.

Questions
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Benefits of Curriculum Mapping

• With a K-12 overview of what is actually going on
  in the classroom, teachers can
• Build on previous years with more authenticity
• Better prepare students for the future
• Supports long-range planning, short-term
  preparation, and clear communication
• Helps determine match between the level of
  student learning and the type of work expected
• Helps identify gaps and redundancies in the
  curriculum
• Helps teachers discover potential areas for
  integrating subjects
• Helps new teachers with pacing

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If there are gaps among teachers within
buildings, there are virtual Grand Canyons among
buildings in a district.
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There is nothing more valuable than a teacher who
knows the expectations of the curriculum above
and below him/her.
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• In early work with curriculum mapping, teachers
  focused primarily on recording the what of
  teaching (curricular topics) and the when (actual
  time on task, scope, and sequence of
  instruction).
• Using the calendar as an organizer, teachers
  describe or "map" a year's curriculum in monthly
  or grading period "chunks" as it is actually
  taught

Questions
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4. How is curriculum mapping different from
lesson planning?

• Lesson plans describe in detail what and how a
  teacher intends to teach on a day-to-day
  basisthe sequence of activities, student
  grouping, and resources used.

• On the other hand, curriculum mapping is a
  process for recording what content and skills are
  actually taught in a classroom, school, or
  district during a longer period of time. The data
  provide an overview, rather than a daily
  classroom perspective, of what is actually
  happening over the course of the school year
  (Jacobs, 1997a).

Questions
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5. How is curriculum mapping different from
curriculum guides or pacing guides?

• Curriculum guides and pacing guides define the
  curriculum (what we teach) but do not address
  instruction (how we teach) or assessment (how we
  know that students have learned).
• Most curriculum guides reflect what should be
  taught, but that may be far from what is actually
  happening in classrooms.

Questions
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6. How do we know that curriculum mapping leads
to improved student learning?

• research indicates that when teachers focus on
  student learning, align what is taught with
  learning goals that will be assessed, and use
  instructional strategies that promote learning
  for all students, student performance on
  standardized tests improves.
• in school districts that have used curriculum
  mapping, student scores on standardized tests
  have improved

Questions
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CURRICULUM MAPPING PROCESS
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Key Questions

• In what ways are the instructional units and
  learning activities engaging for students?
• How is the sequence of content and skills
  structured to optimize learning?
• In what ways have cross-disciplinary connections
  been used to maximize student interest and to
  reinforce learning?
• What examples of learning activities that enable
  students to master essential concepts and skills
  can you share?
• Are multiple ways of knowing being addressed?
• Are classroom assessments matching the language
  and expectations of standards?
• In what ways are higher-order thinking skills
  being taught and mastered?

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What actually happens with curriculum mapping?

• Each teacher/team defines or "maps" a year?'
  curriculum in monthly "chunks" as it is actually
  taught.
• Teachers also identify cross-disciplinary
  connections and potential areas for curriculum
  integration.

The Process
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Completed maps illustrate several key factors

• What is taught
• When and how it is taught (sample activities)
• How it is assessed
• What standards are addressed in every classroom.

The Process
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Phase 1Collecting the Data

• There are three major elements that comprise the
  curriculum on the curriculum map
• The processes and skills emphasized
• The content in terms of essential concepts and
  topics, or the content as examined in essential
  questions and
• The products and performances that are the
  assessments of learning.

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Phase 1Collecting the Data

• Highly specific information about daily lesson
  plans isn't needed. The purpose of this phase is
  for each teacher to place realistic data about
  what he or she teaches in the course of the
  academic year on a macro level.
• Think in broad terms.

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Phase 1Collecting the Data

• Purposes
• To reveal what is actually going on in the
  curriculum, so the design of the map should
  reflect such themes.
• To place realistic data about what he or she
  teaches in the course of the academic year on a
  macro level.
• The initial data collection is the most
  labor-intensive part of curriculum mapping.

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"If you have five 3rd grade teachers, the
assumption is that there's a 3rd grade
curriculum," Jacobs says. "Well, there really are
five 3rd grade curricula. And you want to find
out where it's okay to have those differences and
where it really hurts Johnny, because those 4th
grade teachers inherit kids assuming certain
things have happened.H.H. Jacobs
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Phase 1

• At the end of each grading period and again at
  the end of the school year, teachers and
  administrators analyze the school's maps to
  identify unintended gaps in standards alignment,
  repetitions of curricular content, and
  instructional modifications needed to help all
  students achieve.

The Process
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Phase 1

• During the first year of mapping, team meetings
  should focus on establishing common goals for
  student learning identifying consistencies,
  differences, and innovations in curriculum and
  instruction within grades or courses finding
  opportunities to connect and reinforce learning
  across the curriculum noting unintended
  curricular gaps and repetitions and sharing
  resources and teaching strategies that promote
  student learning.

Real World
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Phase 1

• SUMMER
• A district committee representing all grades and
  content areas conducts further analysis, develops
  exit criteria for each grade or course,
  identifies areas for integration, and provides
  guidelines for revising maps as needed.

The Process
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Phase 2Individual Review

• Once the maps are completed, each teacher becomes
  an editor for the map for the entire building.
• Reads through the maps to gain information
• Look for repetitions, gaps, meaningful
  assessments, matches with standards, potential
  areas for integration, and timeliness.

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Phase 3Mixed Group Review

• The groups should be composed of people who do
  not work together (When familiar groups review
  the maps, they tend unconsciously or consciously
  to homogenize the material so that it looks
  uniform).
• Each teacher shares his or her findings from the
  individual review of the maps
• This is a reporting out procedure. It is not a
  decision-making procedure, delay judgment.
• "red-flag" areas that need attentiondo not
  rewrite the curriculum.

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Phase 4Large Group Review

• Findings form individuals and the small group are
  gathered in a chart encompassing all of the
  reporting sessions.
• The key is to delay judgment again and simply
  compile data.
• A critical decision at this juncture is whether
  to break into instructional units or stay as the
  larger group.

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Phase 5Determine Those Points That Can Be
Revised Immediately

• With lists of observations in hand, the faculty
  starts to sift through the data and determine
  areas that can be handled.
• Address concerns through the exchange of ideas
  between team members.

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Phase 6Determine Those Points That Will Require
Long-Term Research and Development

• While reviewing the maps, groups will find areas
  that require more in-depth investigation before a
  solution can be produced.
• Before many decisions can be made, research about
  internal needs and external practices may be
  needed.

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Phase 7The Review Cycle Continues

• Curriculum review should be active and ongoing.

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The mapping process

• YEAR 2
• Teachers incorporate revisions into their maps,
  implement the newly aligned curriculum, design
  interdisciplinary instructional units, develop
  exit assessments for grade and content, and
  assess student achievement data.
• The result is a taught curriculum that matches
  the written and tested one and that promotes
  equity and excellence.

The Process
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Year 2

• Assess the curriculum maps that were created

Real World
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What types of maps would serve you well?

• Work in small groups.
• Generate some possible map formats.
• For each one
• Identify its purpose and audience
• Tell what type of information it would contain
• Identify the relative level of detail (high,
  medium, low)
• Show what it might look like
• Create a one-page description and thumbnail
  drawing to post on the wall.

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Phases for Curriculum Mapping
7 Continuous Review
6 Long-term Revision
5 Immed. Revision
4 Lg. Group Review
3 Mixed Group Rvu
2 First Read Through
1 Collecting The Data
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Collect the data

• Gather prioritized standards
• Refine at school level
• Present concept to faculty
• Select one consistent mapping format
• At the grade level, assign each teacher to
  calendarize and develop essential questions
• Allow one hour for each teachers work on
  content portions of the map, and two hours for
  skills and assessment portions
• Transfer work to computers, if not already there

1 Collecting The Data
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First read through

• Independent work by teachers
• Look for gaps, repetitions, potential areas for
  integration, timeliness, and consistency
• Circle areas of concern or in need of revision
• Takes 2-4 hours

2 First Read Through
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Mixed group review session

• Cross-grade-level groups of teachers who dont
  usually work together
• Share findings from individual review
• Ask one member to be facilitator and record
  groups findings
• Red flag areas that need attention

3 Mixed Group Rvu
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Large-group review

• All members of faculty attend
• Small-group facilitators prepare by meeting and
  charting findings
• Large group looks for patterns in small group
  finings
• Revise maps (as whole group or in smaller work
  groups within the large group)

4 Lg. Group Review
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Immediate revision

• Elimination of gaps and repetitions
• Negotiate movement of content between grades for
  efficiency

5 Immed. Revision
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Long-term revision

• At school level, if affecting many grades
• At district level or higher
• Set up task force

6 Long-term Revision
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Continuous review

• Annually, following results of standardized
  testing

7 Continuous Review
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Essential Question 6

• How can I facilitate the mapping process at my
  school?

Whats still rolling around in my mind?
What squares with my thinking?
What do I need to change?
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Essential Question 7

• How do we effectively monitor the curriculum?

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Discussion Question

• What types of supporting evidence might you
  expect to see or hear if exemplary practices in
  curriculum are being implemented?

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Planning Time

• A focus on the mapped curriculum
• Assigned tasks demonstrating that teachers are
  sharing materials and resources
• Common assessments being developed
• Discussion of student work around a priority
  objective

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Lesson Plans

• Clarified Objectives
• Essential Questions
• Narrow range of objectives being taught by
  teachers at the same grade level or course
• Common lesson plans for grade levels or courses
• Common planning model
• Common assessment tasks

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Student Work

• The teaching objective can be clearly identified
• The teaching objective is aligned with the mapped
  curriculum

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Focused Walk-Through Observation

• Teachers teaching the lesson plan
• Essential questions posted and students answering
  them
• Students able to answer questions related to what
  is being learned

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Monitoring Steps

• Plan what you want to monitor
• Schedule an hour each day for classroom or common
  planning observations
• List the evidence you would expect to see or hear
  to verify what curriculum is being taught
• Analyze your data
• Provide appropriate feedback to teachers
• Plan support strategies to assist staff with
  curriculum concerns
• Provide support and motivation
• Continue monitoring

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Data Analysis Worksheet

• Date_____ Monitoring Focus____________

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Data Analysis Worksheet

• Date 11/8/02 Monitoring Focus Unit
  planning vs.
• day-to-day

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Essential Question 7

• How do we effectively monitor the curriculum?

Whats still rolling around in my mind?
What squares with my thinking?
What do I need to change?
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Curriculum mapping
What teachers do
What students do
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Ownershipand Buy InCreating Stakeholders
1
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Change Theory...

• 1. UNFREEZE THE ORGANIZATION
• Disconfirming Data
• Whats worked/hasnt worked/Current state

• 2. COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING
• Building a sense of trust and ownership
• How can we be better/Desired State
• Psychological safety

Schein Organizational Culture and Leadership

• 3. REFREEZE THE ORGANIZATION
• Reinforce new behaviors
• Shared values, beliefs, assumptions
• Building a new culture

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• UNFREEZE THE ORGANIZATION
• What is
• Disconfirming Data?

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IDENTIFY
IMPLEMENT
IMPLEMENT
ASSESS
ADJUST
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Current State

• What are the gaps in our curriculum?
• Are students fully prepared when they enter the
  next grade level?
• What are the skills that teachers are saying they
  are having to remediate?
• What are the skills that teachers are saying are
  strengths?

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Current State

• What are the overlaps in our curriculum?
• Are teachers in different grade levels teaching
  the same thing?
• Are some concepts and/or skills repeated two
  frequently?
• At what grade level should specific
  concepts/skills be taught?

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How do you create opportunities for ownership of
the curriculum?
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TrainingCognitive Restructuring
2
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• COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING
• How do you provide
• Psychology Safety?

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Psychology Safety

• Teaching how to map
• Letting teachers work in mapping teams
• Not linking mapping to evaluation
• Clearly articulating the benefits of mapping

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MappingThe types of curriculum
3
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Types of Curriculum

• Recommended
• Derives from experts in the field
• Written
• Found in the documents produced by the state, the
  school system, the school, and the classroom
  teacher

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Types of Curriculum

• Supported
• Instructional materials such as textbooks,
  software, and multimedia resources.
• Tested
• Embodied in tests developed by the state, school
  system, and teachers.

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Types of Curriculum

• Hidden
• Unintended curriculum-what students learn from
  the school's culture and climate.
• Excluded
• What has been left out, either intentionally or
  unintentionally.

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Types of Curriculum

• Taught
• The curriculum that teachers actually deliver.
• Learned
• The bottom-line curriculum, what students learn.

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Step 3

• Mapping the taught curriculum
• Staff meetings
• Grade level meetings
• Summer work
• Map it as it is being taught

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Taught Curriculum
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Step 3

• Decide what to map
• Essential content
• Skills
• Essential questions
• Correlations to State standards
• Assessments
• Time
• Mastery
• Materials
• Field trips

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• Plant and animal needs
• Parts of plants
• Life cycle of plants

• Essential Content

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• Sequencing the life cycle of plants
• Comparing and contrasting life cycles of plants
  and trees
• Identify parts of plants and trees
• Observe and record data
• Differentiate between the needs of plants and
  animals
• Recognize that plants and animals have different
  parts and different functions

• Skills

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• What are the parts and functions of plants?
• What is the life cycle of a plant?
• How do plant and animal needs differ?

• Essential Questions

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• Standards

• 5.1
• 5.5 A, C

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Mapping

• Start with a basic map and then add more
• Essential content
• Start with a more complex map
• Essential content
• Skills
• Essential questions, etc.

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MappingCorrelations
4
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National Standards State Standards Textbooks and
materials
Local needs Taught curriculum Learned Curriculum
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The textbook is not the curriculumWHY?
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MappingLooking within and across
5
108
WITHIN
Addition
Subtract
ACROSS
Addition
Addition
Addition
SEQUENCING
GAPS
OVERLAPS
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MappingGetting Feedback
6
110
Feedback on taught curriculum
111
MappingUsing Feedback
7
112
AssessAdjustAlign
113
WITHIN
Addition
Subtract
ACROSS
Addition
Addition
Addition
SEQUENCING
GAPS
OVERLAPS
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MappingLearned curriculum
8
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Realizations

• The structure of the school must support mapping
• Time to talk about curriculum and mapping
• The curriculum in the foundation of all that we
  do
• A weak foundation is not good

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Realizations

• An administrator will never fully know what goes
  on behind the classroom door
• Get at the taught curriculum
• The textbook should not become the curriculum
• There is safety in the textbook

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Realizations

• Teachers dont discuss curriculum
• They really dont have a clear picture of
  everything that is taught
• Forest through the trees
• The written/adopted curriculum is usually not
  what gets taught
• Curriculum guides are not user friendly

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Realizations

• Interdisciplinary curriculum can be fostered
  through mapping
• Helps to make connections
• Curriculum mapping isnt rocket science
• Its common sense

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Steps in the Planning Process
Frudden and Stow (1986) identified 8 steps in the
planning process
1. Establish goals and objectives
2. Identify prerequisite skills
3. Establish allocated time
4. Identify strategies and models of teaching
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Steps in the Planning Process
Frudden and Stow (1986) identified 8 steps in the
planning process
5. Determine evaluation methods
6. Select instructional methods and techniques
7. Design student activities
8. Provide for variety individual differences