Curriculum alignment revisited

Glatthorn, A. A. (Fall, 1999). Curriculum alignment revisited. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 15 (1), 26-34.

Misconception/narrowness
Under the accountability pressure, most teachers simply understand curriculum alignment as to "check the content of the state tests by using nonconfidential materials, examine the curriculum guide to remind themselves about what else should be taught, develop plans to accommodate the guide and the test, and teach as best as they can" (p. 26).

Used foolishly, curriculum alignment

• diminishes the art of teaching
• sterilizes the curriculum
• makes the classroom a boring place

Used wisely, curriculum alignment offers teachers a practical method to ensure that students are well prepared for the mandated test

Creative coping

• Analysis of the written curriculum
  
  • Mastery curriculum (essential for all; based on state standards and benchmarks; grade-specific; tested; should require only 60-80% of class time to teach)
    
  • Organic curriculum (essential for all; continuing development; not grade-specific; not tested)
    
  • Enrichment curriculum (not essential; "nice to know")
    
• Development of mastery units (tested-written-taught)
  
  • review the mastery benchmarks
  • develop written curriculum within the limits of prescribed state standards and tests
  • implement the unit flexibly, modifying it to respond to students' needs and abilities
  • teach a brief enrichment unit if time is available
    
  
  

Expansion of the concept of Alignment

• Eight types of curriculum
  
  • hidden: the unintended curriculum - what students learn from the school's culture and climate and related policies and practices. (powerful influence on students)
    
  • excluded (null): what has been left out.
    
  • recommended: the curriculum advocated by experts. (little impact on the written curriculum and teachers)
    
  • written: the document produced by the state education agency, the school system, the school, and/or the classroom teacher that specifies what is to be taught (moderate influence on the taught curriculum)
    
  • supported: the curriculum that appears in textbooks, software, and multimedia materials. (strong influence on the taught curriculum - e.g., elementary teachers who teach 4-5 subjects rely heavily on the textbook - major source of content knowledge)
    
  • tested: embodied in state tests, school system tests, and teacher-made tests. (strongest influence on teachers and students - "will this be on the test?")
    
  • taught: the curriculum that teachers actually deliver. (significant gap between the taught and the learned - student don't always learn what they are taught)
    
  • learned: the "bottom-line" curriculum - what students learn. It's the most important curriculum of all.
    
• Aligning the most important types of curriculums (best to be added to the written/taught/tested triad)
  
  • hidden/taught (uncover the hidden - find the discrepancy - modify)
    
  • written/recommended (compare the state standards and benchmarks with those recommended by the professional organizations to improve standards)
    
  • excluded/written (recapture the excluded content to add to the written)
    
  • supported/written (compare textbooks on state-approved list with the state-mandated course)
    
  • tested/learned (use the result of both the state's mandated tests and the teacher's tests to diagnose teaching/learning problems)
    
• Aligning the taught/learned curriculums
  
  • the taught/learned gap: student don't always learn what they are taugh
  • causes
    
    • environmental factors (e.g., classroom climate; external noise)
    • teacher factors (poor organization, unclear explanations, unclear speech, misinformation, insufficient monitoring and assessment, insufficient and/or inappropriate choice of content knowledge)
    • student factors (inattentiveness, lack of prior knowledge, disability, emotional problems, absorption with a personal agenda, influence of peers, disconnectedness with lesson content, fatigue or illness, cultural differences, preference for avoiding failure rather than being embarrassed by participating)
      
  • solutions: peer collaboration in diagnosing and remediating the problem.
    

Curriculum design

After the standard-based curriculum has been created, the assessment-based units will need to be developed. The purpose is to prepare students for and engage them in performance assessments so that they might achieve authentic learning. Glatthorn provided a 4-step unit planning process, among which I think that step 2 is the most important one. Analyzing the performance task with task analysis, which is more systematic, and/or knowledge analysis, which is more specific, helps facilitate authentic learning.

Backward design stemmed from the philosophy that “to begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination … so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.” It advocates the operationalization of the goals or standards in terms of assessment evidence at the beginning of unit planning, which leads to better student performance. An example of the application of this design in a 5th grade class vividly illustrated the 3-stage process: 1) identify desired results by setting intelligent priorities (3 knowledge categories), 2) determine acceptable evidence of understanding through a variety of formal and informal assessment, and 3) plan learning experiences and instruction (a means to an end).

By collecting data about the operational curriculum in a school and in a district, curriculum mapping provides an active tool to give people better access to the truth about what’s happening in classrooms. Today many curriculums need to change in terms of their outdated content and standards in areas such as social studies, science, math and language arts. The great potential to help educators reexamine and renegotiate content standards with immediate and powerful control makes curriculum mapping an ideal tool to create a timely curriculum.

Curriculum alignment is like a two-edged sword – it can be used to damage or to strengthen the curriculum. In order to construct a learning-centered curriculum, educators will need to align the written, the taught, and the tested curricula with good judgment and professionalism. Based on the understanding of the interactions of the 8 curriculum types, alignments of the most important types, especially the taught/learned alignment, should be given priorities in consideration.

Glatthorn, A. A. (1999, Fall). Curriculum alignment revisited. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 15 (1), 26-34.

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Perkins-Gough, D. (2003, December). Creating a timely curriculum: A conversation with Heidi Hayes Jacobs. Educational Leadership, 61 (4).

Glatthorn, A. A. (?). Using assessment driven instruction. ?