KHIS Curriculum Mapping Process – A Vehicle for Collaborative Improvements in Teaching & Learning

Objectives for the Session What is Curriculum Mapping? How can Curriculum Mapping (CM) improve student performance? Why is CM necessary to effectively implementing standards? What will CM look like at KHIS into future? When will we have the time to do all this?

“Curriculum Mapping has been one of the most beneficial initiatives undertaken by our system. It has not only helped us to truly align curriculum, removing gaps and overlaps; it has caused us to go through a process of examining what we do and why. This process has made teaching & learning more relevant and more efficient.”— Dr. Lyle C. Ailshie, Director, Greeneville City Schools (State of Tennessee, 2000)

How do you currently plan, record and communicate / share your curriculum? Please make some notes and discuss with a neighbor.

Consider the big picture: Your students walk through the door on the first day of school. What do you know about them? Can you describe what they studied and what skills they applied in the grade prior to yours? Without an effective means of surveying the big picture of curriculum over time, the student is the only one who really knows the path of his or her experience in school.

What is Curriculum Mapping? Curriculum mapping is a process anchored in the school calendar, in which each teacher records, in real time, the content and skills taught and how they are assessed.

How instruction occurs. When instruction is delivered . Curriculum mapping is a technique for exploring the primary elements of curriculum: What is taught. How instruction occurs. When instruction is delivered .

How are… Critical thinking Reading Numeracy Writing Vocabulary General Learner Outcomes Technology truly reflected throughout our school curriculum in a way that is connected to Standards?

The curriculum data: Content Skills Assessments are entered by month, which adds the time-bound element to the maps

Curriculum Mapping using the analogy of a road map

Drivers use the labels on maps to identify their driving destinations just as educators list content on their maps to identify leaning destinations. Motorists use the roads and highways, as indicated by the lines on maps, to get them to their destinations just as educators list skills on maps to be used to assist learners in reaching the learning destinations. As travelers progress through their journeys, they utilize the maps scale to assess their progress related to their destination just as educators list assessments they use assist learners in determining how close they are to their learning destinations.

Here are some very simple sample curriculum maps: Seventh Grade Curriculum Map - Life Science Middle School Curriculum Map - American Citizenship Grades 10-11 Curriculum Map - World History

When all of this data is consolidated into a map made accessible to groups of teachers, it enables each teacher to look at the content and skills taught, as well as how the skills are assessed.

Reading Break: “The Need for Calendar Based Mapping” by Heidi Hayes Jacobs While reading, think about the following: How might mapping help us as educators see the bigger picture as experienced by our students throughout their K-12 experience.

How might mapping help us as educators see the bigger picture as experienced by our students throughout their K-12 experience. When you are finished, talk about this with a colleague.

Curriculum mapping is not an ideology or a philosophy of education Curriculum mapping is not an ideology or a philosophy of education. Rather, it is a tool that groups of educators use to lay out and reflect upon the path a curriculum takes over time.

The process of curriculum mapping asks teachers to rethink curriculum development in two very important ways.

1. Each teacher's curriculum is made public 1. Each teacher's curriculum is made public. It is no longer an isolated action; it becomes information that is shared with colleagues. Note: There is no formal evaluation tied to Curriculum Mapping. It is strictly an improvement process implemented to support professional educators improve their pedagogy.

2. The curriculum is never "finished 2. The curriculum is never "finished." Rather, it becomes an on-going dynamic process that is ever-changing — not a completed product. HCPS I HCPS II HCPS III… Increasing rate of information necessitates educators to constantly update and revise curriculum

It All Starts with the Teachers Curriculum Mapping is a process that begins with the individual teacher and expands to include an entire department, grade level, faculty, or district. Through the reflective collaborative process, educators are able to collectively refine curriculum to meet the fluctuating needs of their students

Reflective Collaborative Process Teachers individually map their curriculum Teachers spend time reviewing the curriculum of other teachers Teachers collaborate to provide one another feedback from the map reviews Teachers use this input to refine their curriculum

There are two methods for collecting curriculum mapping data

In a projected map, teachers plan and lay out what they expect to cover over the course of an entire school year. As the year progresses, they make adjustments and change their plans accordingly. This method requires teachers to project what they believe will be the content, skills, and assessments taught and implemented over the course of a school year.

In a diary map, just like in a real diary, teachers record what is operational on an ongoing basis at the end of each month, after teaching has occurred. By the end of the school year, the year's worth of teaching will have been mapped.

The critical component of this part of the process is that teachers honestly communicate “what really happened” with regards to instruction in their classrooms once it occurred. This is essential to the improvement process

What information do we collect initially on a Curriculum Map? Content Skills Assessments

Content The is the subject matter itself: key concepts, facts, events which may be included within a map Content is the essential concepts and topics covered during a month.

Content Cont. Content is written beginning with a noun. Examples: Cultural diversity, water cycle, Hamlet, local government systems, bicycle safety.

Practice On your sample map template, record one content entry in the appropriate column.

Skills Skills are key abilities and processes students will develop related to specific content. They are not written as objectives (e.g., “students will…) but rather as statements. Skills are written beginning with an action verb. Examples: reading a map, writing a play, analyzing non-fiction text, and writing persuasive essays, matching words and pictures, inventing a device, comparing and contrasting two ideas…

Skills are displayed on maps as precise skills that can be: Assessed / measured Observed Described in specific terms Always begin a skill with an action verb

Practice On your sample map template, record one skill entry on the appropriate column.

Assessments – listed as nouns on maps Assessments are the products or performances that demonstrate student learning. They demonstrate student understanding of the content and mastery of the skills. Assessment goes beyond traditional tests, quizzes, and homework (these are important but should not be the only forms of assessment).

Each content – skill strand on a curriculum map should have a corresponding assessment (note: one assessment tool may address more than one concept-skill strand.) Assessment is what the student does (the actual product or performance), not the evaluation tool used to assess the product (e.g., assessment is a group presentation, not the rubric used to assess the presentation). Examples: web page, bicycle safety brochure, research paper, skit, debate, board game, PowerPoint presentation

Practice On your sample map template, record one assessment entry on the appropriate column.

KHIS Faculty Maps developed to Date 8th Grade Social Studies – Abey Q 9th Grade Study Skills – Jessica Ladieu Integrated Health Sciences Academy Map – Amy Swiderski, Krista Nielsen Career Life Skills – Yvette McDonald

Curriculum planning and collaboration has always existed, but the process has been transformed into an effective tool for curriculum reform through the use of technology.

Utilizing Technology to help us work smarter Introducing:

How does the sharing occur? Windward district is currently working to purchase a district license to the Rubicon Atlas Curriculum Mapping product. Atlas provides educational institutions with access to an online data base educators can use to input and analyze their curricula data. This data can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection. Data entry is as easy as using any word processing program

Atlas is a Web-based curriculum management tool that electronically: Incorporates curriculum mapping. Tracks gaps and repetition in instruction. Allows educators to easily align curriculum to benchmarks and standards.

Produces updated reports to encourage partnerships among educators Facilitates sharing of ideas and communicating them rapidly across buildings, schools and grades. Shares requirements with students. Can be used (eventually) to showcase planned curriculum to teachers, administrators, students, parents and communities.

Let’s look at some screen shots from Atlas: Curriculum data entry Units presented across months Curriculum Map View

Atlas provides the tools to help us take curricular development to the next level Features easy to use application with intuitive functionality and graphics. Offers interactive features to incorporate links to documents, movie clips, pictures, web resources and more. Eliminates the need for printed distribution, but allows printing of any map on demand.

Saves time in entering and editing curriculum data Saves time in entering and editing curriculum data.  You can type, cut & paste or drag & drop. Access information any time from anywhere. Design can be customized to individual schools and districts.

Imagine & Reflect Imagine if every K-12 teacher within our complex had their entire curriculum mapped using a system that allowed all educators access to the maps of one another. What type of potential could this have for improving the quality of instruction we provide for our students? THINK LONG TERM Please discuss with a colleague.

Why Map?

One of the great problems in American education that could be addressed quite readily, and is starting to be addressed, is the lack of good communication between grade levels, between buildings. It's rare to find a middle school that knows what the elementary curriculum is in any depth, or [for] the high school to have any understanding; so integration is the kids' experience integrated over time as well as during the course of any school year. It's a more dynamic definition than the old way.     —Heidi Hayes Jacobs (2004)

Hasn’t Much of this been done in the past? Many Home groups have went through a similar process in the past. A major goal is to have all curricula at KHIS documented on a digital data base so that it is accessible to all share holders. As veteran teachers leave our school, usually their years of experience leave with them. A major goal of this process is providing future generations of teachers access to curricula data generated over time.

Curriculum mapping is a strong tool for curriculum planning. You meet with your colleagues on a regular basis to reflect on the work you're doing in your classrooms to create a coherent and consistent curriculum, both horizontally (within a grade level and/or content area) and vertically (across grade levels).

This kind of close, regular collaboration between teachers has the potential to change the way a faculty works together to plan their curriculum

Regularly sharing with your colleagues can lead to more effective teaching and more opportunities to coordinate with other teachers in the building.

Curriculum Mapping is a tool that can bring unity to a faculty by generating consensus among individual teachers about the overarching, basic skills that should be taught.

Why Schools Choose to Map? Mapping allows schools to effectively: Review the actual curriculum in each classroom in relationship to the other teachers in their school and in other schools. Plan collaboratively, helping teachers to break out of the relative isolation of a typical classroom. Revise the curriculum over time, based on students' needs and in conjunction with real teachers.

Mapping anchors curriculum planning in data generated by real classrooms. Through mapping, groups of educators can address curriculum planning from the "bottom up," instead of from the "top down."

As the curriculum mapping process evolves, teachers have an increased opportunity to ask themselves the following questions.

Did I plan what I taught and did I teach what I planned? Are there obvious gaps or repetitions in how I delivered my curriculum that could be revised? Am I working steadily with students on skill development, or could I have a better sequence of skill development in my classroom? Are my assessment tools developmentally appropriate?

Will my students find relationships among the curricula they are exposed to? Do my units/lessons meet state and national standards? Are my lesson sequences complementing other subject areas? Are the main concepts being reinforced or duplicated? How can I change or improve my plans?

How does this relate to Standards Based Grading?

It is very difficult for teachers to align content, skills and assessments to standards with other teachers if all do not have an accurate picture of what everyone in the school is teaching. Curriculum Mapping is a powerful process which, implemented effectively, can help all educators in a community work together to raise levels of student proficiency in meeting and exceeding standards

Curriculum Mapping as the HUB of our School Improvement Efforts As the mapping process is implemented, specific areas of need will begin to emerge. In what areas do faculty need PD? Where are the gaps in students’ learning? Where are the best opportunities for integration of multiple disciplines? What are the most effective ways for teachers to work together to address career pathways, literacy, critical thinking, technology.

What will the process look like at our school? Seven teachers at our school have completed / and or are currently taking an online course in Curriculum Mapping. Today we are formally sharing the CM process with the faculty. This is the first of many session on Curriculum Mapping. For the remainder of the school year, teachers have two options related to professional development:

A. Those who have been working on their Standards Based Assessment Portfolios are expected to submit these to the principal prior to the last day of school. B. There is now an alternative option to the Portfolio - complete an initial Curriculum Map for one course you teach. This can be submitted in place of your Standards Based Portfolio. Note: The expectation is for teachers to submit one or the other by the end of the school year.

4. KHIS / Windward District will sign up with Rubicon Atlas for the 05-06 school year. 5. Aug. 05 – Teachers will receive training from Atlas / KHIS CM Leadership Team in documenting curricula using Atlas technology. 6. The primary expectation for 05-06 school year will be for teachers to map their curriculum they teach to the standards and to actively participate in the review process.

What will the review process look like at our school? Starting in October/November, twice a month faculty will gather to collaborate in reviewing maps. One Wednesday to meet heterogeneously One Wednesday to meet homogenously At the completion of each collaborative review session, members will collectively submit review data to the Curriculum Coordinator (me)

There will be an expectation that educators will use the feedback obtained through this Reflective Collaborative Process to refine their curriculum.

When will we have the time to do all this?

Time We are proposing that next year we make some changes to our “meeting time”. There are no meetings – only “collaboration sessions”. Focus groups will be temporarily disbanded to form heterogeneous mapping groups. Each group will consist of one member from every home group. Groups will formally gather to collaborate and review maps once a month starting as early as October.

There are various Focus Group initiatives which must be sustained. We are proposing the following solution to this dilemma: All critical initiatives will be divided up into individual tasks. Every faculty member will be required to sign up for one task. Tasks will be advertised by the number of people necessary and the amount of time needed to complete the task.

Once the members of that group have executed their task, they are done for the school year. The remainder of their non-instructional time will be spent participating in the Curriculum Mapping Reflective Collaborative Process as it relates to improving classroom teaching and learning.

4. Whole Faculty Collaboration Sessions will convene on another unassigned Wed. On days when Whole Faculty Collaboration Sessions will not need to run for the entire time – HG Chairs may schedule follow up sessions with their members. Half of the Months have a fifth Wednesday – these days can be utilized flexibly

For more information on Curriculum Mapping, visit the Teacher Resource Page of the school website – www.kahukuhs.org