Published: April 11, 2008 12:53 pm            

West Clark Schools starts curriculum mapping

West Clark Schools is starting voluntarily what many school systems across the country are being forced to implement for poor performance.

Curriculum mapping is a way where all the teachers in the corporation use a computer program to define what will be taught when. The goal is to eliminate holes in curriculum as well as overlapping lessons.

Many school corporations throughout the nation who have failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act too many times are being required to align their curriculum using techniques such as the mapping.

West Clark Community Schools Corp. has passed benchmarks for the past two years.

Denise Bessler, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, started working for the corporation in July. She said one of her main goals was to get everyone on the same track when it comes to the curriculum.

“We have a lot of really good teachers doing a lot of really good things, but if they’re not all connected together, we won’t get as good of results,” she said.

Bessler said when she presented the idea to teachers this past summer some were excited, while others seemed intimated. However, she said once it was all explained, everyone was on board.

“When I first heard about it, I didn’t even know what the term meant,” said Julie Posante, who teaches at Silver Creek Middle School. “After we got into the process, I realized that it’s something that I would really like. I’m really organized and it’s a tool to help keep you organized.”

She is one of the few teachers chosen to start mapping this year. Bessler said so far, all the language arts and world language teachers have been trained on the program, as well as a dozen elementary teachers.

This month, more principals and teachers will be trained. This summer, a few more will learn it and this fall the rest of the group will start mapping.

Bessler said the process takes some time to learn.

“The worst part of the mapping is the time it takes to create the first maps,” said Lisa Hawkins, who teaches at Henryville Jr./Sr. High School. “Several of us have taken time to write maps only to find that we did them wrong.

“However, that is why only a few of us were chosen at the beginning. We will now know how to help others in the corporation so that they can do it right the first time.”

“I like it because I can put notes in there,” Posante said. “I can say this did not work at all or next time I would try this. I can also add attachments, such as resources I used to teach that lesson.”

Bessler said the goal is to not only make sure every student is on the same page, but to also improve the school system.

“We want to bring overall achievement to the next level,” she said. “Core 40 is going to become the new graduation requirement. You can’t increase the rigor in the high schools without increasing the rigor all along the way.”

Bessler said students in the high schools are already being required to pursue the Core 40 diploma — which requires more math, science, foreign languages and more compared to a general diploma — unless the student and parent object, have a conference with administrators and sign off that they choose not to pursue it.

The teachers said in the end, this program will save them time.

“Now, I don’t have to hunt things down,” Posante said. “It will definitely save time in the future and help the units to become better.”

Bessler said the results will soon start to show.

“I think you’ll see results right away,” she said. “People will become more aware of what they’re teaching. It’s a natural thing to spend more time on something you love than something you don’t like as much, and this will help to create that balance that’s needed.”



WHAT IS CURRICULUM MAPPING?

• Curriculum mapping is a process where teachers work together to decide what will be taught and when, such as during which grade level. Each teacher’s individual maps can also include notes on what they used to get the lessons across and what worked and what didn’t. Teachers within a corporation would be able to see others’ maps so that they can get ideas and make sure they are not repeating something that has already been covered. The goal is to make sure that no matter which class a student is in, each student learns the same lessons.



WHAT’S AYP?

• Beginning with the 2002-03 school year, the federal No Child Left Behind Act has required schools to show annual improvements in the academic achievement of the overall student population and subgroups that have 30 or more students, such as groups based on race, economic background and special education.

Scores are given in each of those areas based on ISTEP test results, attendance rates — for elementary and middle schools — and graduation rates — for high schools.

Schools must make Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, in each area or face penalties.

        

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