Challenges Met Lessons Learned Shaler Area School District Shannon Howard, Assistant High School Principal Anne Frazier, Department Co-Chair Kate Elder, Department Co-Chair Heather Tomko, Teacher

BACKGROUND INFORMATION Shaler Area High School

Shaler Area School District Shaler Area School District is a suburban public school district serving students from Etna, Millvale, Reserve, and Shaler 5 Primary Buildings (K-3) 1 Elementary School (4-6) 1 Middle School (7-8) 1 High School (9-12) 5027 students in district

Challenges Horizontal and Vertical Alignment, especially between buildings Merging the curriculum document (as it was) with the format used with the Curriculum Mapper The “blank page” Time

OUR SOLUTION Shaler Area High School

Unit Template

Why a Template? Wanted a graphic organizer to help with information gathering (visual learner, linear process  spiral thinker) Only certain members of the department were working on the mapping process Everyone’s input needed for building units in courses We needed a way to have all information for input in hand for each meeting

Includes major components of each course unit in EdInsight: Design

How We Used It Gave a copy of the template to each member of the department Each individual teacher outlined major units taught in each course Grade level teams collaborated on changes to common units Input team used completed templates to map courses

Benefits of Using the Template Forced conversation about course structure – Common units = horizontal alignment – Essential skills to be taught v. unessential = helped grade level teams see where we were focusing instruction and time – Complete revision of CP 10 World Literature – Assessments  formative v. summative Helped input team work more efficiently

Our Experience with Curriculum Mapping Used already established baseline curriculum, so it was an easier process for our group and a logical starting point for the high school. –Common mid-term & Final –Common novel units Forced us to standardize grammar concepts which we weren’t previously doing –Subject/Verb agreement –Apostrophes Used the template to guide us through the process.

Lessons Learned Establish a common departmental vocabulary for mapping process (i.e., EdInsight input categories). Establish common goals for department and grade levels (i.e., horizontal and vertical alignment). Spend more time in the early stages making department-wide decisions and gathering information –input doesn’t take as long if process and goals are clear. Realize this may not be a quick process, but it is extremely valuable!

NEXT STEPS Shaler Area High School

Questions?