What is a Curriculum Map?

According to “Education World,” a curriculum map is “A process for collecting and recording
curriculum-related data that identifies core skills and content taught, processes employed, and
assessments used for each subject area and grade level. -- Education World: Virtual Workshop:
Curriculum Mapping”

A curriculum map first and foremost is a planning tool, a procedure for examining and organizing
curriculum that allows educators to determine how content, skills and assessments will unfold over
the course of the year. It is an in-depth view of topics teachers will instruct over the school year, their
pacing, and how they blend with other subjects. In an IB school, that includes the learner profiles
that are satisfied. In a Common Core school, that covers the math and literacy standards addressed.
In other states, it'll be how lesson plans meet their unique state standards.

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In general terms, a Curriculum Map includes:

 Specific skills
 Assessments
 Essential questions
 Big ideas
 Accommodations
 Materials required
How do you use a Curriculum Map?

A curriculum map doesn't tell teachers HOW to teach, rather what needs to be taught to achieve
goals. Because it's a living document, notes added by the teacher each year address how varied
student needs were accommodated within a lesson plan. These changes can be planned for the
following year. Entries are viewable by all personnel in a school or district, likely located on a secure
server that can be accessed through the Internet. This allows educators to view within their grade
level as well as vertically, to see if students enter the grade level with the skills required and leave
the grade prepared for requirements of the next grade.

How do you create a Curriculum Map?

Curriculum mapping is a process, not a one-time initiative. It is created by the core teacher with the
assistance of all other involved teachers. With this collaboration, lesson plans integrate all subjects,
spiral up or down as needed, and are scalable to student needs. Key to the map is that each teacher
enters what is taught in real-time throughout the school year, in contrast to having an outside
committee make teaching decisions.

A curriculum map can be built from a basic spreadsheet tool or a sophisticated online program
like Atlas Rubicon. Whichever you pick, make sure it's accessible from the internet and allows for
online collaboration and sharing. It must become a living document that is part of the teaching
process.

Here are basics:

 Start with a list of topics that will be taught that year. This is developed based on:
 Teacher input -- grade-level teaching team and vertically aligned teachers.
 School curriculum--the broad mission of the school. This includes criteria such as Common
Core, TEKS, IB philosophy, and State Standards.
 School learning philosophy -- this might include a focus on citizenship, problem-solving, and
the development of lifelong learners.
 Student needs.
 Past experience.

Place the topics in the spreadsheet or online tool, sequenced throughout the ten months of the
school year.

Add events that will impact your teaching time such as school holidays, teacher conferences,
professional development days, and other. This allows you to be sure you have sufficient time in the
school year to complete the assigned tasks.

Add other information that's important to your school such as essential question, assessments,
pacing, and Standards met.
There are a lot of templates for Curriculum Maps (Google “Curriculum Map template” to see a wide
variety). The one you pick must work for you, your team, and your students. Acurriculum map isn't
completed in a sitting, or a weekend. It takes a year to do it right -- planning it out, teaching with it,
revising and reworking. What lessons took longer than you expected? When were students not
ready for the unit (maybe they required earlier scaffolding to prepare)? What events popped up (like
hour of code in December) that you wanted to involve students in, so you “made a hole” in your
teaching to accommodate? What tie-ins to other subjects were too good to be passed up?

At the end of the year, look at what you have and prepare to start over the next year.

For lots more on curriculum mapping, visit Janet Hale's website called “Curriculum Mapping 101.”
She has answers to just about any question you come up with. Also, visit this link for Santa Ana
Unified School District's complete collection of curriculum maps.

In a nutshell, curriculum mapping aligns and sequences skills within grade levels and from one
grade level to the next. When you've finished your first year, you'll be amazed how much better you
understand the part your teaching plays in the school's mission and the student's goal of becoming a
lifelong learner.

How do you create a Curriculum Map for your class?

Abstract
Standardized testing in some circles is demonized as the vilest form of assessment. These individuals point to
many problems with how these tests are created and administered, as well how the results are used. In other
circles standardized testing represents true assessment whereby individual performances can be compared to
other performances in a meaningful manner. That is, standardized testing is seen by some as a fair form of
comparison; others do not. Knowing where standardized testing came from and what were the motivations for
its growth, may help in understanding and perhaps in being able to use the results of standardized tests to
improve teaching and learning. This article serves as an overview of the history and current realities of
standardized testing.

Introduction
Considering the role standardized testing has acquired in education systems internationally, one can safely
assume that a vast majority of Canadians have experienced these tests as students. More and more students’
lives are becoming influenced by standardized testing, as a societal push for educational accountability has led
to a dramatic increase in the use of these assessments across districts and nations (Guskey & Jung, 2013).
Their value is much debated by educators, academics, and politicians, but what is clear is that their use seems
to be increasing rather than decreasing. Experiencing standardized tests as students can provide a useful
perspective, however, it is important that faculty and students have a general understanding of the history of
standardized or high-stakes testing, as well as a basic overview of the how these assessments are built.

This article will explore the history of standardized testing, recent developments within standardized testing,
creation of test questions, and applicability.

Definition
Stiggins (2008) states that

these once-a-year tests are not likely to be of much value to classroom teachers as you plan and carry out day-
to-day instruction. They are assessments OF learning that are too infrequent, broad in focus, and slow in
returning results to inform the ongoing array of daily decisions. But this does not mean that these tests are
without purpose or value. They can communicate valuable information about students’ achievement status to
other decision makers (pp. 347-348).

This relatively rational statement could be considered a definition of the battle lines that have been drawn up
between those who are proponents of standardized tests and those against them.

The intent in standardized testing is to have large numbers of students write a single test, then to compare any
single score against all others to see how an individual’s score compares to the large sample. The results are
then posted on a bell curve that indicates where a score sits within descriptive statistical standards.
Standardized tests are given to large groups numbering at least in the thousands, sometimes millions. In order
to make the results as valid as possible, thus “standardizing” the administration of the assessment, the tests
are:

 written at the same time and same day for all students,
 administered with consistent instructions,
 allowed the same amount of time for each student to write the test, and
 scored in the same manner.

Scantron is a common method of marking bubble sheets of multiple-choice style questions. Essays are marked
by specialists who have been trained to mark in similar fashion.

Burke (1999) maintains that traditionally “standardized” meant that the test is standard or the same in three
ways: (a) format/questions, (b) instructions, and (c) time allotment. Format/questions means that the test
questions are the same for all students writing the exam. The information that the students are to show they
know is asked of them in the same format that is usually multiple choice. Multiple choice is the format of choice
because as Stiggins (2008) suggests, “It is relatively easy to develop, administer, and score in large numbers”
(p. 354). Further, in order for the test to be fair in the sense of all students having the same chance to answer
each question correctly, all questions must be the same.
The instructions are to be the same as well. These are to be delivered in the same way to all students so that
no students are advantaged or disadvantaged. The last standardization is time allotment. All students are to be
given the same amount of time to finish the exam.

However, the standardization of standardized exams is being eroded. Common changes to standardized
testing allow certain students to have more than the allotted amount of time. Some students with certain
learning needs are now allowed to have more time than other students to complete the exam. These students
are then often allowed to write in different rooms as well.

The second requirement of standardized tests is also frequently adapted. Students with reading problems can
get “readers” to read the questions. The rationale behind this is that the curriculum asks that students know
certain information. Whether the students know this information is the purpose of the exam, not whether the
students can read. These readers may adapt the standardized instructions that the students receive. Also,
reading the questions to the students may give them an advantage or disadvantage other students do not
have. Therefore, the second and third requirements of standardized testing are no longer strongly in effect.

There are other forms of standardized testing that are available other than multiple-choice questions, for
example, essay writing. This form of testing currently has the disadvantage of needing markers to assess the
essays. Essay markers must be trained to gain a sense of what the standards are. Then they must engage in
the time-consuming activity of reading the essays. Even with the training assessors can give significantly
different grades to an essay.

Proponents of standardized testing point to large-scale use of the tests that go beyond the individual student or
even the school. Standardized testing allows comparison between provincial education systems or even
national education systems. Advocates say that standardized tests are impartial and rational. They state that
standardized tests are an inexpensive way to check that schools and teachers are accountable, that students
and therefore the public are getting the education that public dollars are paying for. Standardized tests by this
measure are intended to examine the whole education system and therefore individual scores may be not as
significant.

“… the standardization of standardized exams is being eroded.”

Five Important Standardized Test-Taking Strategies

There are a five basic strategies that students of any age should be in the habit of doing on any test or
assessment. These strategies are applicable to students taking the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium
exam in 3rd grade as well as those taking the SAT in high school.

1. Read the instructions carefully. Skipping reading the instructions can lead to errors. For instance,
the directions may say that more than one answer is correct and you must select all answers. Another
example is the directions may say to select the vocabulary answer that is opposite in meaning.
 2. Read each question carefully. After reading the problem carefully and paying attention to the details,
underline the key words to help understand the question. Seek the information needed and narrow
down the important information. Is the question asking for the sum? Does the answer require a
synonym?
o Recognize and ignore what is unnecessary. Often math word problems will provide extra
information that you don’t need in order to solve the problem.
o If you come across a question that is difficult, don’t spend all of your time on it. Move on and
come back to it at the end.

3. Read each answer carefully on multiple choice questions before you make a selection.
o Eliminate all answers that are not correct.
o Don’t fall into the trap of looking for patterns in the answers. There really can be four “B”
answers in a row.

4. Select a strategy.
o Often there is more than one way to solve a problem. Chose the strategy that will work best
for you. Will you draw a picture? Will you use the regrouping method? Will you use trial and
error?
o Don’t second guess yourself by changing your first answers unless you are 100% certain.

5. Use all of your time wisely.

o Pay attention to time passing in relation to the time allotment.
o Don’t get distracted by other studentsIN THE ROOM .
o If you have time, go back over as many problems as you can to make sure that the answers
are correct. When finished, look closely to make sure that you have answered everything and
that you haven’t overlooked any questions.

***

As mentioned above, an important test-taking strategy is the process of carefully examining the directions and
exercises, which is routinely practiced by Kumon students. When Kumon students write an incorrect answer,
they try the exercise again by carefully reviewing the directions and other given information.