Systematic Curriculum Mapping

Although it is definitely possible for a single teacher to

create a curriculum map for the subject and grade that
they teach, curriculum mapping is most effective when
it is a system-wide process. In other words, the
curriculum of an entire school district should be
mapped to ensure continuity of instruction. This
systematic approach to curriculum mapping should
involve collaboration among all of the educators who
instruct students within the school.
The main benefit of systematic curriculum mapping is
improved horizontal, vertical, subject area, and
interdisciplinary coherence:
 Horizontal coherence: Curriculum is
horizontally coherent when it is comparable to the
curriculum of an equal lesson, course, or grade
level. For example, the learning outcomes for a
10th-grade algebra class at a public school in
Tennessee are horizontally coherent when they
match the learning outcomes of a 10th-grade
algebra class at a public school in Maine.
 Vertical coherence: Curriculum is vertically
coherent when it is logically sequenced. In other
words, one lesson, course, or grade prepares
students for what they will be learning in the next
lesson, course, or grade.
  Subject area coherence: Curriculum is coherent
within a subject area when students receive
equitable instruction and learn the same topics
across subject area classes. For example, if one
school has three different teachers who teach 9th-
grade biology, the learning outcomes should be
comparable in each class regardless of the teacher.
 Interdisciplinary coherence: Curriculum is
coherent in an interdisciplinary sense when
teachers of multiple subject areas (such as math,
English, science, and history) work together to
improve the key cross-curricula skills that students
need to succeed in all grades and subjects. Some
examples include reading, writing, and critical
thinking skills.

Curriculum Mapping Tips

The following tips will help you through the process of
creating a curriculum map for the courses you teach:
 Only include authentic data. All of the information
in a curriculum map should reflect what is actually
happening in a classroom, not what should be
happening or what you wish was happening.
 Provide information on a macro level. You do not
need to include detailed or specific info about daily
lesson plans.
 Make sure that learning outcomes are precise,
measurable, and clearly identified.
 It helps to use action-oriented verbs from Bloom's
Taxonomy to describe learning outcomes. Some
examples include defining, identify, describe,
explain, evaluate, predict, and formulate.
 Explain how learning outcomes were achieved by
the students and assessed. 
 Consider using software or some other type of
technology to make the curriculum mapping
process easier and less time time-consuming