Curriculum Mapping

Curriculum mapping is a collection of information on a school or school district’s curriculum, lessons, assessments and core content. Curriculum mapping is done for each subject or grade level in a school or district. It is drafted based on the 180-day school calendar to ensure that all required standards are covered during a particular school year. A curriculum map is not set in stone, but is a living document, designed to be adaptable to the changing needs of the school district and the state department of education.

Curriculum mapping serves many purposes for a school district. Beyond ensuring all standards are covered during the school year, curriculum mapping allows for communication between the teachers, school board, administrator, parents and other appropriate parties. Curriculum mapping programs also allow teachers to better collaborate not only within subject/grade areas, but cross-curricularly as well. Another purpose of curriculum mapping is to organize the school’s curriculum and to ensure it is appropriately aligned with relevant state standards.

The school district I work at recently implemented curriculum mapping utilizing an internet-based computer program called Atlas. For the past school year, the curriculum team, comprised of at least four teachers from each content area or grade level, has been uploading unit plans, formative and summative assessments, projects, worksheets and other resources to Atlas. The high school departments have fully completed their curriculum mapping, an the middle school and the elementary schools are on their way to completion. Use of the curriculum mapping program has benefitted the high school in many ways. First, it has allowed the teachers to share resources, assessments, projects and worksheets via the search function of Atlas. Secondly, it has given transparency to what the teachers and administrators are accomplishing as well as the expectations and responsibilities for student achievement. The transparency extends to the board of education. Each member of the BOE has their own log-in for the system. They are able to see that the teachers and administrators are aligning the curriculum with the standards and that the teachers are putting into practice the various initiatives of the district, including use of technology and differentiation. While curriculum mapping has brought definite benefits to the district, there have been some drawbacks as well. First, some teachers are not willing to share projects or worksheets they created. Secondly, the cost for Atlas and to pay the curriculum team to upload information to Atlas has been great. Despite the drawbacks of curriculum mapping, I believe that the process will ultimately benefit our school district by allowing the teachers to share resources and align curriculum, which will enhance the learning experiences of our students.