The concept of “curriculum mapping” was pioneered in the late 1970s and early 1980s by Fenwick English, a curriculum leader and theoretician. Early maps focused on what topics or skills were taught, in what order, and for what period of time. (Hoyle et al., 1994; Jacobs, 1997a).
Today, curriculum maps are used to not only align curricula to standards and assessments, but also to build staff capacity, to help effectively utilize resources, and to better communicate with shareholders. That’s why curriculum maps seem to work best when teachers are active participants in their formation.
However, the work of larger, well-funded districts can often provide a good starting point for other districts in the state. With that in mind, here’s what two districts in Northwest Arkansas have done …
Springdale Curriculum Maps – Beginning in 2014, the Springdale School District pulled groups of teachers from the classroom to work on Curriculum Mapping. These teachers spent two years aligning curriculum to state standards, and creating detailed curriculum maps (pacing guides) for all major subject areas.
Rogers Curriculum Maps -The Rogers School District also expended a significant amount of time and effort (and money) aligning curriculum to state standards. Through the links on their site, you can drill down by subject and grade level to any area of interest.
Embedded Curriculum Maps – Programs like EngageNY (a free product developed through grants connected to the New York Department of Education) have embedded curriculum maps that correlate directly to state standards. However, critics of such programs point out that the pacing is sometimes relentless, there is little room for differentiation, and DOK levels are rarely beyond levels 1 or 2. While there can be many useful components in such works, “caveat emptor” definitely applies.