Curriculum Mapping

Curriculum Mapping Overview

ASCD: Excerpts from Framework for Teaching

The adoption of the P-12 Common Core Learning Standards requires educators to take a critical look at existing curriculum maps, pacing calendars and/or units of study in order to ensure school-wide instructional coherence. Curriculum alignment is the process of aligning standards, content, skills, essential questions and assessment to best meet all students’ needs and the overall instructional goals of the school.

Mapping is a continuous and systematic process that helps teachers to monitor, revise, and guide their instruction. Curriculum mapping provides both teachers and students a clear sense of direction and creates opportunities for vertical and horizontal alignment to avoid curricular redundancies and address instructional gaps.

For more detailed definitions, check out Curriculum 21's online Glossary of Mapping Terms.

Click on the links below to learn more about the Four Phases of Mapping developed by Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs as well as a particular approach to mapping called Understanding By Design (UBD).

Universal Design for Learning

UDL‐designed assessments give students the best opportunity to succeed by
presenting information in multiple ways, allowing students to process a problem or task using a variety of approaches, and engaging students in multiple ways.
Four Phases of Curriculum Mapping
Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Dr. Ann Johnson organize curriculum mapping according to four phases. Learn more about the four phases of curriculum mapping.
Understanding by Design
Understanding by Design is a method for curriculum mapping that begins with what students need to know and be able to do as the end goal and maps backwards.

	Curriculum Mapping Curriculum Mapping Overview ARIS Learn Homepage for NYC Educators CFI: Surfacing Gaps Activity ASCD: Excerpts from Framework for Teaching The adoption of the P-12 Common Core Learning Standards requires educators to take a critical look at existing curriculum maps, pacing calendars and/or units of study in order to ensure school-wide instructional coherence. Curriculum alignment is the process of aligning standards, content, skills, essential questions and assessment to best meet all students’ needs and the overall instructional goals of the school. Mapping is a continuous and systematic process that helps teachers to monitor, revise, and guide their instruction. Curriculum mapping provides both teachers and students a clear sense of direction and creates opportunities for vertical and horizontal alignment to avoid curricular redundancies and address instructional gaps. For more detailed definitions, check out Curriculum 21's online Glossary of Mapping Terms. Click on the links below to learn more about the Four Phases of Mapping developed by Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs as well as a particular approach to mapping called Understanding By Design (UBD). Universal Design for Learning UDL‐designed assessments give students the best opportunity to succeed by presenting information in multiple ways, allowing students to process a problem or task using a variety of approaches, and engaging students in multiple ways. Four Phases of Curriculum Mapping Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Dr. Ann Johnson organize curriculum mapping according to four phases. Learn more about the four phases of curriculum mapping. Understanding by Design Understanding by Design is a method for curriculum mapping that begins with what students need to know and be able to do as the end goal and maps backwards.