World Literature

Curriculum mapping 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. The completed curriculum map then becomes a tool that helps teachers keep track of what has been taught and plan what will be taught.

Creating and working with curriculum maps is a 7-step process involving:

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• Phase 2: A review of all maps by all teachers.
• Phase 3: Small mixed group reviews, in which groups of five to eight diverse faculty members share individual findings
• Phase 4: Large group comparisons, in which all faculty members gather to examine the findings of the smaller groups.
• Phase 5: Identification of immediate revision points and creation of a timetable for resolution.
• Phase 6: Identification of points requiring additional research and planning, and a timetable for resolution of those points.
• Phase 7: Planning for the next review cycle.

The purpose of a curriculum map is to document the relationship between every component of the curriculum. Used as an analysis, communication, and planning tool, a curriculum map

• allows educators to review the curriculum to check for unnecessary redundancies, inconsistencies, misalignments, weaknesses, and gaps;
• documents the relationships between the required components of the curriculum and the intended student learning outcomes;
• helps identify opportunities for integration among disciplines;
• provides a review of assessment methods; and
• identifies what students have learned, allowing educators to focus on building on previous knowledge.

Bear in mind that curriculum maps are records of implemented instruction - of what has been taught during the current school year. Projection maps, or pacing guides, on the other hand, project what will be covered in the future.

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