Curriculum Guides:
Are You Doing What You Intend?
Cramer 2007
Purpose of a Curriculum Guide
 Provides direction, identifies what you are trying to accomplish (goals)
o One guide doesn’t have to “do it all.” Why not create a variety of guides? Such as guides for your
overall organization (district/university/corporation), building/division level (ie. Middle school,
Student Services Division), content area (math, basketball program), and grade level/ specific
office/specific team (varsity track). People will use guides based on where they function within the
organization.
 Within the guide, provide alignment documents to match all the pieces
 KISS – Keep it short, if your guide is too long, no one will ever look at it
Alignment
 Ensures coherence within your organization, program, building, content area, grade level, etc.
 Curriculum Alignment definition (Cramer): matching the various components of your curriculum to
ensure all parts fit together and are addressed/taught/assessed/resourced
 Utilize tables or matrices to illustrate matches
 Requires identification of
o what needs to be taught -- goals, content and standards;
o where it will be taught/provided
o when and the degree to which it is to be taught -- introduced, taught, and reinforced
o assessments -- teacher made and standardized
 Provides a map for allocating resources -- time, energy, money, space
 Allows for accountability within the organization
Content Area Curriculum Guide Contents (minimum, Glatthorn, 1994/2004)
 Hallmarks of Excellence -- vision of excellence in that subject, may include what you want more/less of
 Subject mastery goals
 Scope and sequence chart -- may include time allocations, assessments, activities, resources
 Grade level objectives (and benchmarks)
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php -- Great site to make rubrics
http://mjsd.buildyourowncurriculum.com/public/course_search.aspx -Menasha’s Curr
District Level Big Picture Guide/Section (optional but useful, Glatthorn, 1994/2004)
 District’s educational goals -- the outcomes you hope the students will achieve after completing formal
schooling
 Vision of curriculum excellence -- your dream of what excellence looks like
 District’s curriculum policy -- Policy governing how curriculum will be developed, implemented,
reviewed; who does what; process for monitoring and evaluating curriculum; access; resources, etc.
 Long-Term Planning Chart -- to indicate when curricular materials are to be planned, produced, piloted,
implemented
 Alignment charts (Cramer)
Big Picture Materials (optional for inclusion in guide but useful to assist in planning, Glatthorn)
 State frameworks/guides (from DPI)
 Exemplary national curriculum projects
 Research on teaching and learning in your subject area
 Research on child/adolescent/learner development

High-quality commercially produced learning materials
Process -- Developing a Mastery Curriculum (Glatthorn, 1994/2004, p. 34)
1. Identify the subject mastery goals


Align goals and programs
Educational programs are all those experiences provided for all students: the mastery curriculum,
organic curriculum, hidden curriculum, activity program and student services.
R=reinforce, E=emphasize
GOAL
Mastery
(Direct
Instruction)
Organic
(Indirect
Instruction)
Hidden
(school
culture)
Activity
(extra
curricular)
Services
(health, lunch, etc)
Self-esteem
R
E
E
R
R
Align the mastery curriculum goals and the subjects
GOAL
Art
English
Health
FACE
Math
Critical
thinking
R
E
E
R
E
2. Analyze State Frameworks
3. Refine Subject Mastery Goals
4. Develop a Report on the Knowledge Base
5. Develop the Hallmarks of Excellence
6. Develop the Curriculum Framework
7. Identify the Strands of the Curriculum
8. Develop the Scope-and-Sequence Chart
9. Identify Available Curriculum Materials
10. Develop the Curriculum Guide including:
11. Evaluate the Guide
12. Determine how the Guide will be distributed
Thought Questions (address in Curriculum at a Glace Booklet)
 Do you have a curriculum guide to guide your practice?
 What is in it? (any alignment pieces? goal statements?)
 Have you ever used it?
 Is it useful?
 How does it compare to the above ideas?
 What would make it more useful?
 If you were in charge, what would you require to be included in a curriculum guide?
 Would you put it on the web? Why/why not?
 Who would use it and for what purpose?