Last week Jennifer wrote a question about curriculum mapping. Here is a link to that thread:
https://benslavic.com/blog/2013/03/17/curriculum-map-question/
Then I asked Diana Noonan about this. She was very kind to respond with the information below:
“There is no short answer. Here is the definition of curriculum map from Wikipedia:
“The curriculum mapping model as originally defined by Dr. Jacobs has seven specific steps[5] that schools use to thoroughly examine and then revise their curriculum. There are both commercial companies[6][7][8][9] and not-for-profit groups[10][11] that have generated curriculum mapping software used around the world. Related to mapping, but separate from it, is the concept of a curriculum audit, described by Fenwick W. English. in “Deciding What to Teach and Test: Developing, Auditing, and Aligning the Curriculum” (1999, Sage).
“Key to the approach is that each teacher enters what is actually taught in real-time during the school year, in contrast to having an outside or separate committee determine decisions. The entries by teachers are not left alone, however; in fact, because the work is displayed via internet-based programs, it is open to view by all personnel in a school or district.[4] This allows educators to view both K-12 and across grade levels and subjects what is transpiring in order to be informed and to revise their work.
“Curriculum mapping requires a cultural shift in certain schools. The curriculum needs to be perceived as a ‘work-in-progress’, a ‘living and breathing’ document, whose ultimate owners are students. Curriculum mapping is a ‘process’, not a one-time initiative.[5] Traditional curriculum mapping software are just tools available to make the review process easier. Modern software allow educators to impute lessons and extract maps. This makes for a more natural process and more frequent updates.[14]
“Our DPS “curriculum map” just involves the high frequency word list. What is actually taught by DPS teachers always goes to the top 200 words. We know we need to teach those words and our students need to be able to understand x number of words in context as they demonstrate proficiency at listening, reading, writing and speaking. Students may remain at novice-mid for more than a year and other students move quickly from novice-low to novice-high within one year. I like the statement above…”Curriculum mapping is a ‘work-in-progress’, a ‘living and breathing’ document whose ultimate owners are students. What can they DO after a year…some can DO “this” and others can DO “that”… Our students do not fit into a one size fits all. INPUT is still what we absolutely need to do MOST of the time in the classroom.
“My response is not short but basically…I believe schools don’t really know what curriculum mapping really is…
“Sorry, but this doesn’t solve Jennifer’s problem with her department. The fact that they are still in the dark ages is the issue. Teachers who place undue emphasis on output are not CI teachers, no matter what they may say. Writing is necessary to inform the teacher about instruction. Students never say that they want to be able to write the language; rather, their goal is to be able to understand and speak the language. Our job is to orchestrate that crucial understanding which will transfer to output in the form of speaking. Without input, there is no output.
“Our assessment includes writing because that is one way we can measure what they really know, but it is not the only way. We also measure their ability in listening, reading and speaking. The weakest part of our assessment is speaking because that score is so subjective.”