Updating Curriculum with New or Updated

Standards
By Kelly McCurdy , Atlas Team | November 2022

When sets of standards are updated or replaced, the task of updating and realigning entire curriculum
maps can feel daunting. While the most important key to successfully updating curriculum with new
standards is providing curriculum writers and teachers expected to teach the updated curricula
with the rationale, tools, and time to engage in the process, there are a few key steps to smoothly
updating curriculum maps with new or updated standards.

1.Get to know the new standards

You and your teaching teams may be very familiar with the content standards for your specific subject
area, and the updates made in a new release of standards may be minor, but it is important to develop a
deep literacy of the new standards that you are tasked with guiding students to meet. Whether it is a set
of content, technology, social emotional, or other standards, the creation or sourcing of a crosswalk to
compare and contrast new standards with prior versions is a strong strategy to begin with, but it
may reveal that direct replacement of individual standards may not be sufficient.
 If, like in this example
comparing two sets of
Grade 1 Mathematics
learning standards, the
shifts from one standard
set to the next is minimal,
manually replacing
individual standards with
their updated versions
with only minor changes
to the rest of the
curriculum is appropriate.

Work with your Atlas

account manager to flag
outdated standards as
obsolete, making
replacing and auditing this
process more efficient.
 Notice in this Social
Studies update of
8th grade standards
that two of the 2018
standards do not
have equivalent
2011 versions.

If we rely solely on
direct replacement
of 2011 standards
with their 2018
modified partners,
standards like these
two would be left
out of the
curriculum.

Teachers and curriculum

writers should be given
the opportunity to
analyze the two sets of
standards and to
collaboratively work with
colleagues to process the
content and skills detailed
in the updates.

The degree of
modification to be made
in each unit depends on
how different the
standards are from the
previous edition. The
crosswalk exercise should
help to determine how
much revising of your
units needs to be
You can always find all of your adopted standards all in one location in Atlas,
completed.
under 🌐All Curriculum → Adopted Standards

If the update to the standards was substantive enough that the scope and sequence needs to be updated as well to
align to these new standards, it is important to take the time to prioritize, group, and unpack these new standards,
not being afraid to make significant changes to units of study.

Prioritize and group the standards

Identify which standards are going to be prioritized at what points throughout the scope and sequence of each course
adopting the new standards. For strategies and prioritization criteria, including school-level power standards flagging
and prioritization of standards in Atlas, reference our Guide to Prioritizing Standards within your Curriculum using
Atlas.

Group standards into units

Group the new standards into new units of study (or modify existing ones) that focus on an intentional number of
standards, but also include supporting standards that can serve as scaffolds to reach the focus standards of a unit. If
these new standards will be integrated into units with standards from other sets, these standards should be included
in this grouping step as well.

Unpack the standards

Once these standards have been grouped into a collection of units, it is time to unpack the content and skills within the
standards into the development of enduring understandings, essential questions, and determining of assessment
evidence.

This is also the time to return to unit plans from before this update to include any components that align to the new
unit structure. Remember that you can reference any units in Atlas from past years.

2.Review for Alignment

Complete both a vertical review of the standard prioritization work that you just completed to identify
any gaps or redundancies in the scaffolding of standards targeted in your new units of study, as well as to
 get to know the standards of the grade levels above and below your own grade level. Use these different
reports to guide your analysis:

Standards Analysis Standards Overview Scope and Sequence

Identify exactly how many and
which standards have been
targeted in a single course, grade
level, or subject area.
Use this information to identify
any standards that might have
somehow been missed, as well as
those that are targeted across
more units than is appropriate.
Track standards that you have
prioritized at the school, course,
or unit level.
Use this information to ensure
that they build in depth and rigor
as students move through them.
Also check for gaps or
redundancies as well as
scaffolding in the prioritization of
key content and skills standards.
Compare individual components
of a unit plan across a few or
several courses in one place.
Use this information to review
the new progression of units,
including standards, but also
across assessments, learning
targets, or any other component
of your unit template that should
be reviewed for scaffolding, gaps,
or redundancies.

3.Continue the curriculum review process

The work of curriculum mapping is never really finished. Once you’ve completed this substantive update
with your new standards, there will continue to be opportunities to review and refine your curriculum
maps to meet the needs of learners. Ongoing curriculum review cycles can include reviews for cross
curricular connections, assessment alignment, integration of school initiatives, and more. For more ideas,
reference our guide to Promoting Regular and Ongoing Curriculum Review Cycles.

For consultation, coaching, or guidance to support any step or this whole process, see our menu of
professional development options at onatlas.com/pd.