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Challenges Met Lessons Learned

The Shaler Area School District faced significant challenges in aligning curriculum across grades. With a focus on horizontal and vertical alignment, our team implemented a curriculum mapping template to facilitate collaboration among teachers. This approach encouraged discussions on course structure and standardized essential skills across grade levels. The experience highlighted the importance of establishing common vocabulary, setting clear departmental goals, and prioritizing the input process. Our journey has shown that while curriculum mapping takes time, its value in fostering effective teaching and learning is undeniable.

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Challenges Met Lessons Learned

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

  2. Shaler Area High School Background information

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. Shaler Area High School Our Solution

  6. Unit Template

  7. 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

  8. Design • Includes major components of each course unit in EdInsight:

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. 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.

  12. 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!

  13. Shaler Area High School Next Steps

  14. Questions?

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