https://www.edglossary.

org/alignment/
Curriculum mapping is the process indexing or diagraming a curriculum to identify and
address academic gaps, redundancies, and misalignments for purposes of improving the overall
coherence of a course of study and, by extension, its effectiveness (a curriculum, in the sense
that the term is typically used by educators, encompasses everything that teachers teach to
students in a school or course, including the instructional materials and techniques they use).
In most cases, curriculum mapping refers to the alignment of learning standards and teaching
—i.e., how well and to what extent a school or teacher has matched the content that students
are actually taught with the academic expectations described in learning standards—but it may
also refer to the mapping and alignment of all the many elements that are entailed in educating
students, including assessments, textbooks, assignments, lessons, and instructional
techniques.

The term alignment is widely used by educators in a variety of contexts, most commonly

in reference to reforms that are intended to bring greater coherence or efficiency to
a curriculum, program, initiative, or education system.
When the term is used in educational contexts without qualification, specific examples,
or additional explanation, it may be difficult to determine precisely what alignment is
referring to. In some cases, the term may have a very specific, technical meaning, but in
others it may be vague, undecipherable jargon. Generally speaking, the use of
alignment tends to become less precise and meaningful when its object grows in size,
scope, or ambition. For example, when teachers talk about “aligning curriculum,” they
are likely referring to a specific, technical process being used to develop lessons,
deliver instruction, and evaluate student learning growth and achievement. On the other
hand, some education reports, improvement plans, and policy proposals may refer to
the “alignment” of various elements of an education system without describing precisely
what might be entailed in the proposed alignment process. And, of course, some
“alignments” may be practical, thoughtful strategies that produce tangible improvements
in schools and student learning, while others may be unspecific “action items” that never
get acted on, or they may be strategies that show promise in theory, but that turn out to
be overly complex and burdensome when executed in states, districts, and schools.
The following are a few representative examples of how the term is used in reference to
education reforms:
 Policy: Educators, reformers, policy makers, and elected officials may call for the
“alignment of policy and practice.” For example, federal or state laws, regulations,
and rules may not be enacted in districts or schools, or educators may not follow
policies established by school boards and districts. Or enacted laws and regulations
may contradict one another, leaving school leaders and teachers wondering which
laws and rules they should follow. In addition, the interpretation and implementation
of a given education policy in schools may diverge significantly from the guidance
and objectives of a policy, which may then require modifications to—or the
 alignment of—the policy language and resulting “practices” used by
educators. Generally speaking, the alignment of policy usually entails a process of
refinement, iteration, clarification, and communication during the development, and
following the adoption, of a new policy or set of policies.
 Strategy: School leaders may work to “align” the organization and operation of a
district or school, including how students are taught, with a given school-
improvement plan, reform strategy, or educational model. In this case, the alignment
process might entail a wide variety of reforms—from reallocating budgetary
expenditures to restructuring school schedules to redesigning courses and lessons—
in ways that are intended to achieve the objectives of the improvement plan, while
also ensuring that its parts are working together coherently and effectively. For a
related discussion, see action plan.
 Learning Standards: Educators may work to “align” what and how they teach with
a given set of learning standards, such as the Common Core State Standards or the
subject-area standards developed by states and national organizations. In this case,
modifications may be made to lessons, course designs, academic programs, and
instructional techniques so that the concepts and skills described in the standards are
taught to students at certain times, in certain sequences, or in certain ways. For
related discussions, see learning progression and proficiency-based learning.
 Assessment: Teachers may “align” assessments, standards, lessons, and instruction
so that the assessments evaluate the material they are teaching in a unit or
course. Test-development companies also “align” standardized tests to a state’s
learning standards so that test questions and tasks address the specific concepts and
skills described in the standards for a certain subject area and grade level. In
individual cases, teachers may align assessments and lessons more or less precisely,
but developers of large-scale standardized tests utilize sophisticated psychometric
strategies intended to improve the validity and accuracy of the assessment results
(although this is a source of ongoing debate). For a related discussion,
see measurement error.
 Curriculum: Educators may “align” curriculum in different ways, but perhaps the
most common forms are (1) aligning curriculum—the knowledge, skills, topics, and
concepts that are taught to students, and the lessons, units, assignments, readings,
and materials used in the teaching process—with specific learning standards, and (2)
aligning various curricula within a school, such as the curriculum for a particular
course, with other curricula in the school to improve overall coherence and
effectiveness. In the second case, for example, educators may align curricula by
making sure that courses follow a logical learning sequence, within and across
subject areas and grade levels, so that new concepts build on previously taught
concepts. For a more detailed discussion, see coherent curriculum.
 Professional Development: School leaders, educational experts, reform
organizations, and government agencies may “align” professional development—
such as training sessions, workshops, conferences, and resources—with the
objectives of specific policies, improvement plans, or educational models. For
example, state education agencies may provide training sessions for superintendents
and principals to help them implement new teacher-evaluation requirements, or
 districts and schools may contract with experts and outside organizations to help
their faculties learn new educational approaches or teaching techniques.
 Horizontal coherence: When a curriculum is horizontally aligned or horizontally
coherent, what students are learning in one ninth-grade biology course, for example,
mirrors what other students are learning in a different ninth-grade biology
course. Curriculum mapping aims to ensure that the assessments, tests, and other methods
teachers use to evaluate learning achievement and progress are based on what has
actually been taught to students and on the learning standards that the students are
expected to meet in a particular course, subject area, or grade level.
 Subject-area coherence: When a curriculum is coherent within a subject area—such as
mathematics, science, or history—it may be aligned both within and across grade
levels. Curriculum mapping for subject-area coherence aims to ensure that teachers are
working toward the same learning standards in similar courses (say, three different ninth-
grade algebra courses taught by different teachers), and that students are also learning the
same amount of content, and receiving the same quality of instruction, across subject-area
courses.
 Interdisciplinary coherence: When a curriculum is coherent across multiple subject
areas—such as mathematics, science, and history—it may be aligned both within and
across grade levels. Curriculum mapping for interdisciplinary coherence may focus on
skills and work habits that students need to succeed in any academic course or discipline,
such as reading skills, writing skills, technology skills, and critical-thinking
skills. Improving interdisciplinary coherence across a curriculum, for example, might
entail teaching students reading and writing skills in all academic courses, not just
English courses.