Essential Question How does inquiry effect knowledge? Supporting Questions How may curriculum mapping aid in improving student learning and performance? How does investing in pre-planning aid in implementing the mapping process? Why is establishing teacher leadership roles within a learning organization critical for sustainability?

Since a district-wide curriculum mapping initiative is an major task, and well worth it, it cannot be achieved with just one or two people at the helm. Plan now to train an incredible crew of teachers and administrators to steer the CM ship and keep it on course!

It will take more time than you think it will to learn “all about mapping” and get the mapping process established throughout your learning organization. If is therefore critical to examine the roles of various intra-organizations as well as having members of these intra-organizations immerse themselves in curriculum mapping learning and decision making regarding the initial, short- and long-range goals by participating in a quarter to half-year prologue.

“Prologue” in Greek means “before the action of a play.” Setting the stage, literally and figuratively, elevates the attention of all participants— the actors, the director, and the audience. As I have observed schools and districts develop their mapping projects, ample preparation time has characterized the most effective attempts. Clearly, the most successful education settings have crafted a prologue to their actions. (p.1) Jacobs, H.H. (2004). Getting results with curriculum mapping. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Reading and discussing CM books and materials Watching and discussing CM videos Participating in on-line CM courses and/or CM video conferencing Attending CM trainings or conferences Corresponding or meeting with a CM Consultant and/or Trainer Visiting CM schools or districts in person or electronically During the prologue, a CM mapping system will be selected as well as ample time being spent on practice-writing curriculum maps to learn how to write/record the map elements.

When curriculum mapping is taken to all teachers in a learning organization it can not be executed in quite the same manner as other initiatives have been done in the past. Marzano, Waters, and McNulty (2005) state that “incremental [first-order] change fine tunes the system through a series of small steps that do not depart radically from the past. Deep [second-order] change alters the system in fundamental ways, offering a dramatic shift in direction and requiring new ways of thinking and acting” (p.66). Curriculum mapping cannot be executed or established in a few meetings or in-services. Its implementation most often alters how a school or district functions in the most fundamental ways.

CM Coordinator CM Cadre CM Cabinet CM Councils A Visual Representation A Visual Representation Support

Curriculum Mapping Intra-Organizations CM Coordinator Serves as the liaison between district administrators; CM intra-organizations; CM Consultant/Trainer, if applicable, and State Reps. Coordinates the CM initiative’s implementation and ongoing professional development topics. Takes on the responsibility of becoming one of the district’s CM “resident experts.” Collaboratively develops, revises, and publishes CM District Strategic Plan with input from collective CM intra-organizations/administrators. Responsible for carrying out the district’s CM multi-phase implementation and ongoing accountability and progress processes.

Curriculum Mapping Intra-Organizations CM Cadre A team of approximately five to seven people who have a high interest in curriculum design and an understanding of administrative insight into the district’s curriculum issues and demands. These team becomes the district’s “resident experts” in all aspects of CM implementation and application. Serve as the district’s lead CM trainers and facilitators. Attend all CM Cabinet meetings, and when appropriate, CM Council meetings.

Curriculum Mapping Intra-Organizations CM Cabinet A district-based representative group (member size per school site will vary depending on site’s teacher population; ~1:12-15 teachers per school). consisting of CM Coordinator, CM Cadre, administrators, technology support, and teachers representing the diversity of all grades and curricular areas in the district. The CM Cabinet members become confident in all aspects of CM implementation, components, and processes during the prologue.

Curriculum Mapping Intra-Organizations CM Cabinet After the mapping initiative has gone through its beginning stages of implementation (Year One with all teachers), the members continue to support the establishment of this model as it takes an average of three years before mapping becomes a natural, normal way of conducting professional business Each CM Cabinet member dually serves as a CM Council member at his or her respective school site.

Curriculum Mapping Cabinet Mapping the Big Picture, Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs. ASCD, Equal teacher representation for all schools, all grades, all disciplines, including specialists and special education, plus administration and technology representation from each school.

Curriculum Mapping Intra-Organizations CM Council Each school-site in the district creates and maintains its own CM Council with support from the other CM intra-organizations and CM Coordinator. A CM Council consists of teachers, technology support, and/or administrators that represent all grade levels and content areas within the school site (usually a ratio of 1: CM Council member to every 5 to 6 teachers) and becomes confident in all aspects of CM implementation, components, and processes. Each CM Council member assists a small-group of 5 to 6 mixed-group staff members in their initial and/or ongoing learning of CM and related components and processes

Curriculum Mapping Council (a CM Council per school site) Equal teacher representation for all grades, all disciplines, including specialists and special education, plus administration and technology representation.

Provide job descriptions of member’s roles, expectations, and if offered, compensations, before commitment Consider having teachers serve for 1, 2, or 3 years (rotation-style: some new join, while some established depart) Generate agendas, pre-readings, or expectations for all officially attending (meeting are always open to anyone who wants to attend) CM Cabinet and Councils: A Few Considerations…

Members help plan future CM professional staff development based on needs teachers express through CM review cycles either at personal school site (Council) or entire district (Cabinet) When new teachers are hired annually, or during the school year, CM Cabinet and Council members aid in training and mentoring the new staff members in the mapping process and recording maps in the mapping system. CM Cabinet and Councils: A Few Considerations…

Establish strategic plans (Cabinet = district and Councils = individual school sites) and monitor process and needed adjustments. Target implementation priority items and problems needing immediate attention. Prepare for the emotional factors that come with second-order change. Great … Curriculum Mapping! Here they go… Adding one more thing to our already overloaded plate!

Navigating Comprehensive School Change: A Guide for the Perplexed Thomas G. Chenworth and Robert B. Everhart Focus on Transitions for the Old to the New …William Bridges has argued that often in the process of moving from something with which we’re comfortable to something which is unknown, people experience a sense of loss. (9) This sense of loss is much like that which we experience in the death of a friend or relative… (9) Bridges. W. (1991) Managing Transitions: Making the Most of the Change. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley

Peter Senge’s influential book Schools That Learn (2000) contends that if schools are to be successful in an increasingly competitive world—and if educators are to help students overcome systemic inequities—then schools must become organizations staffed by individuals who know how to learn and grow. Vol. 63(6) (p. 39)

Level I Events An initiative begins through a series of presentations that may include professional development, faculty meetings, etc. The learning organization’s members may or may not mentally connect the separate meetings at this time. Level II Patterns/Trends After a series of meetings has taken place wherein members have been provided opportunities to explore their tacit mental models through reflection and inquiry, they begin to connect the individual experiences and they begin to merge into patterns or trends. Bena Kallick’s Mental Model Shifts for Change through Systems Thinking

Kallick, B. (2006). Keynote presentation. Santa Fe, New Mexico, Twelfth National Curriculum Institute. Level III Systemic Structure After a period of time wherein members participate in formal and informal experiences regarding the patterns or trends, they begin to reconfigure the repetitions into a new mental structure that brings synergy to the series of events and patterns or trends. Level IV Mental Models This new mental structure naturally becomes an explicit mental model wherein members consciously act on it and it moves to being a deep belief and a part of the learning organization’s system and culture.

Pre-plan how teachers will be supported by the School Board and District/School Site Administrators: Preferably Weekly Early Release or Late Start Days Inservice Days Building District Department/ Grade Level After-School Workshops Small Group Mentoring Summer Workshops

What are challenges you may face within your culture/climate? Time (inputting, reviewing, diagnosing, collaborating) Understanding that mapping is a process Keeping the learning organization’s chosen purposes in focus Maintaining the map writing norms Learning how to use the mapping system’s search and report features to aid in conducting reviews Technological issues and concerns (Ex. bandwidth)

Differentiated CM & Technology Staff Development According to experience and comfort with CM processes and elements and technology (general and mapping-system specific) According to demonstrated or voiced competencies

#3 Low Technology High CM. Language #4 High Technology High CM. Language #1 Low Technology Low CM. Language #2 High Technology Low CM. Language TECHNOLOGY CM. LANGUAGE LOW HIGH LOW Differentiating Staff Development: Data Entry For Mappers from Getting Results with Curriculum Mapping ASCD, 2004, H.H.Jacobs.

#1 Low Technology Low CM. Language #1 Low Technology Low CM. Language TECHNOLOGY CM. LANGUAGE LOW HIGH LOW One-on-one support may be necessary for some teachers until they are comfortable with the processes.

Remember, the entire mapping process proves worthwhile when teachers use the maps to make curricula and other decisions for the school and/or the district. Be aware that you will need to think about how to training new-to-a-school or district teachers in what is curriculum mapping and how to map using the mapping system and its features.

“Teacher leadership is not about individual ‘teacher power,’ but about mobilizing the capacity of teachers to strengthen student performance and develop real collaboration within the school.” Patterson, J. Educational Leadership, “When teachers regularly and collaboratively review assessment and [other data-based resources] for the purpose of improving practice to reach measurable achievement goals, something magical happens.” Schmoker, M. The Results Fieldbook, 2001.

Curriculum mapping is a simple concept, yet complex process. Plan now to read, learn, and continue to grow in your knowledge over the next few months and years about “all things” mapping! Using the Curriculum Mapping Critical Components Implementation Matrix may prove beneficial in planning your implementation process as you begin to take steps toward mapping. Hale and Westrick Adaptation of Villa and Thousand’s (2000) Adaptation of Ambrose’s (1987) Managing Complex Change Model Using the Curriculum Mapping Critical Components Implementation Matrix may prove beneficial in planning your implementation process as you begin to take steps toward mapping. Hale and Westrick Adaptation of Villa and Thousand’s (2000) Adaptation of Ambrose’s (1987) Managing Complex Change Model

Vision Skills Resources Incentives Action Plans = Sustainable Change Skills Resources Incentives Action Plans = Confusion Vision Resources Incentives Action Plans = Anxiety Vision Skills Incentives Action Plans = Frustration Vision Skills Resources Action Plans = Resistance Vision Skills Resources Incentives = False Starts Critical Questions Vision Why are we mapping? What are the curriculum and learning concerns we want to focus on immediately, as well as those we anticipate focusing on in the future? Who will be the responsible parties for our mapping initiative’s implementation, monitoring, and revision needs? Skills What will our teachers need to know and be able to do to design curriculum, write quality maps, and use the created maps and mapping system to aid in conducting mapping reviews? Incentives How will teachers see that mapping can aid in improving learning and instruction? What can we do to ensure teachers develop an intrinsic value and purpose for mapping early on given that it will take a few years to properly establish the various aspects of the mapping process? Resources What mapping system will we use? What are we going to do to guarantee teachers have adequate time to individually map, work together on collaborative maps, and conduct reviews? What person or persons will be responsible for ongoing training regarding the mapping system and the mapping process? Action Plans From Year One to Year Five, what do our step-by-step procedures, courses of action, and goals look like for our learning organization (i.e., each school and as a whole)? Are we willing to be flexible and modify our mapping journey? Are we prepared to convey expectations and changes via our established curriculum mapping intra-organizations?