The Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) Curriculum Management Plan

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Curriculum Management PlanTable of ContentsMission.................................................................................................................................................................................3

Vision....................................................................................................................................................................................3

Goals and Priorities..............................................................................................................................................................3

Purpose.................................................................................................................................................................................4

Understanding Components.................................................................................................................................................4

Written, Taught, and Assessed Curriculum...........................................................................................................................5

Curriculum Design................................................................................................................................................................6

Alignment to Standards.........................................................................................................................................................6

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)......................................................................................................................................7

Essential Elements of Written Curriculum.............................................................................................................................8

Essential Elements of Taught Curriculum..............................................................................................................................9

Essential Elements of Assessed Curriculum.........................................................................................................................10

Development and Review Cycle..........................................................................................................................................11

Curriculum Implementation...............................................................................................................................................12

District and School Responsibilities.....................................................................................................................................12

School Based Support Structures........................................................................................................................................12

Professional Development..................................................................................................................................................12

Curriculum Monitoring and Evaluation..............................................................................................................................14

References..........................................................................................................................................................................15

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MissionExcellence in education for every child at every level by focusing on quality instruction, managing systems efficiently, and sustaining a culture of excellence.

VisionEvery student will graduate ready to achieve excellence in higher education and the global workforce.

Goals and Priorities

Additional information, including the City Schools Strategic Plan, is available here.

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PurposeIn order to support the district mission of excellence in education for every child at every level, City Schools must maintain high quality, standards-based curriculum for all grade levels and content areas. “Curricula can be described as the content, knowledge, skills, and aptitudes that are written, taught, and learned within a school system.” Kay & Greenhill, 2013. The Curriculum Management Plan (CMP) for Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) provides a framework for ongoing design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of district curriculum.

The content of the CMP has been informed by a curriculum audit conducted by Curriculum Management Systems, Inc. during the 2015 calendar year. (Curriculum Management Systems, Inc., 2015)

Understanding ComponentsThe components of the Curriculum Management Plan are:

Curriculum Design – the theoretical and applied framework for the development of curriculum, including essential elements and the review process.

Curriculum Implementation – professional development and structures designed to support written, taught, and assessed curriculum.

Curriculum Monitoring and Evaluation – procedures for evaluating implementation, determining revisions and the protocols for determining effectiveness of curriculum using student achievement data, stakeholder feedback, and/or audits.

The CMP is designed to address the taught, written, and assessed curriculum within each component, as well as demonstrate alignment.

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Written, Taught, and Assessed CurriculumThe written curriculum supports teacher implementation of appropriate academic content. Delivery of the written curriculum, referred to later as the taught curriculum, requires that teachers not only understand effective pedagogical practices, but proactively plan and strategically implement a variety of approaches. These approaches demonstrate teachers’ knowledge of their students, effective practice, and content.

The assessed curriculum ensures that appropriate data points drive thoughtful instruction. A variety of formative and summative assessments are used in Baltimore City Schools throughout the school year. Educators use assessments to generate and analyze data to reflect on their practice and adjust instruction accordingly, ensuring students are provided with responsive instruction (taught curriculum), and supported to meet grade level standards and expectations. City Schools reviews assessment trends regularly to inform changes and enhancements to the written curriculum.

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Written Curriculum- Scope and sequences that

demonstrate vertical (Pre-k-12) and horizontal (within grade) alignment

- Standards aligned content that meets the needs of all learners- Models for implementation,

including instructional models, sample lesson plans, and lesson

frames

Taught Curriculum (Instruction)- Delivery of the written curriculum

with fidelity- Effective use of instructional

strategies that meet the needs of all learners

- Adjusting instruction based on qualitative and quantitative data

Assessed Curriculum- Formative and summative

assessments provide student level data used to inform teacher

practice (taught curriculum) and overall curriculum design (written

curriculum)-Aligned to written curriculum

- Student level data informs taught curriculum

Curriculum DesignCurriculum design is the theoretical and applied framework for the development of curriculum, including the essential elements and the review process. This section synthesizes the essential elements of the written, taught, and assessed curriculum.

Alignment to StandardsAll district curriculum is aligned to relevant local, state, and national standards.

Areas Standards Early Learning Birth-Three: Healthy Beginnings

Pre-k and K: Maryland College and Career-Ready StandardsMathematics Maryland's College and Career-Ready StandardsEnglish/Language Arts Maryland's College and Career-Ready StandardsScience Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)Social Studies College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies (C3)

Maryland Social Studies StandardsGifted National Gifted Standards (NAGC) Fine Arts Maryland State Standards for Fine ArtsHealth Maryland State CurriculumPhysical Education Maryland State CurriculumWorld Languages Maryland World-Readiness Standards for Learning LanguagesESOL WIDA English Language Development Standards Library Media School Library Media Standards (AASL)Career & Technology Education Maryland Technology Education StandardsInstructional Technology Maryland Technology Literacy Standards for StudentsLife Skills CCSS, Prioritized English Language Arts CCCs, and Essential

Understandings: Reading; CCSS, Prioritized Mathematics CCCs, and Essential Understandings; CCSS, Prioritized English Language Arts CCCs, and Essential Understandings: Writing

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL)Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a set of principles for curriculum design, instruction, and assessment that gives all students equal opportunities to learn and demonstrate what they have learned.

Based on research in neuroscience, the UDL framework utilizes three principles that follow the three primary brain networks for learning: multiple means of representation (recognition network), multiple means for action and expression (strategic network), and multiple means for engagement (affective network). These principles provide students equal opportunity to a high-quality education that is presented in a variety of ways, engages them in activities that address their learning styles and preferences, and allows for multiple ways to demonstrate their knowledge and respond to instruction.

Learning differs across tasks, across developmental stages, and between individual students. UDL focuses on eliminating learning barriers in written, taught, and assessed curriculum to maximize students’ ability to access content. Implementing UDL supports the learning of all students, inclusive of gifted and advanced learners, English learners (ELs), and learners with disabilities.

UDL is not differentiation; UDL is planning for learner variability. Differentiation, on the other hand, is making deliberate, data-driven decisions based on the different needs of individual students or groups of students.

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Essential Elements of Written CurriculumELEMENT DESCRIPTIONContent and Standards Links curriculum to content standardsScope and Sequence Recommends order for teaching skills/content

Suggests time frame for teaching skills/contentSuggests points in the sequence when assessments should be given

Resources and Materials Relevant materials and resources for teachers to use to support teaching and learning

Key Vocabulary Vocabulary that is central or aligned to the standards

Enduring Understandings Include key conceptsLasting value beyond the classroomMust be uncovered through inquiry

Essential Questions Uncover new ideas and activate prior knowledgeSet inquiry and lead to deeper understandingsRaise key conceptual or strategic ideas

UDL Alignment Provides materials, methods, and assessments that support teachers in reaching all learners

Assessments Provides the role of assessmentSupport teachers in monitoring and adjusting instruction, measuring student mastery, and/or determining intervention needs

Lesson plans/ sample learning activities

Provides sample lesson plans/ learning activities for teachers to referenceAvailable throughout the curriculum

The elements below are included in all written curriculum.

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Essential Elements of Taught CurriculumThe City Schools Instructional Framework and Rubric provides the essential elements and structure that help teachers design and deliver effective instruction (taught curriculum). The framework also identifies the things that contribute to high quality teaching, giving teachers and administrators a common language with which to talk about instruction.

The framework offers a structure that aids teachers in the creation and carrying out of effective instruction. It details the components of outstanding teaching. It includes three categories: Plan, Teach, Reflect and Adjust. Within each category are key action statements. The framework was designed with research-based best practices in teacher quality. A variety of conditions must exist for effectiveness, including knowing and understanding students’ needs, as well as content and pedagogical practices that make content real and engaging.

The rubric includes a series of qualifying statements across four categories, including highly effective, effective, developing, and ineffective used to evaluate teacher performance and provide teachers with feedback to improve their practice in meeting student needs. These help identify areas of strength and growth in alignment with the key actions and key concepts set forth in the Instructional Framework. Evidence must be linked to each key action and the corresponding key concepts.

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Example from City Schools Instructional Rubric.

Essential Elements of Assessed CurriculumEssential to curriculum design is a comprehensive assessment system that includes both formative and summative assessments. The taught curriculum should be adjusted through the review of frequent formative assessment data. Formative assessments include those conducted daily, unit or course assessments, and systemic assessments designed for universal screening and progress monitoring. The results should drive conversations at the ILT, teacher team, and individual student level. The data collected gives teachers and school teams a sense of where their students are in relation to the grade-level standards, and the specific skills necessary to meet those standards. Data-based decision making helps teachers, school leaders, families and students understand the specific need and the goal, as well as how to get there and how to know when they have arrived.

In addition, English learners and Gifted and Advanced learners require systemic screening procedures to ensure identification. English learners are evaluated for services utilizing a screener that designates their level of English proficiency. Across the district, all second graders are screened for ability as a potential identifier of giftedness.

All formative assessments should provide reliable and predictable ways to identify students who are not meeting appropriate grade-level targets based on a criterion measure for the skill(s) assessed. They should be brief and be able to be administered by the teacher.

Progress monitoring is used to assess students’ academic performance, to quantify a student rate of improvement or responsiveness to an intervention, and to evaluate the effectiveness of that intervention. Progress monitoring can be implemented with individual students or a cohort of students.

The written curriculum should be reviewed utilizing the results of district-wide summative assessment data. Summative assessments are designed to evaluate student learning at the end of a course of study. Data from summative assessments can be used formatively to reflect on practice, resource allocation, and support decisions for the school or grade level.

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Development and Review CycleThe City Schools written curriculum undergoes internal revisions and changes regularly based on teacher and stakeholder feedback, current research, and student achievement data, as well as a formal review and approval every 5 years. This process began in 2014, when the Board of School Commissioners approved the City Schools curriculum for English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Henceforth, City Schools follows a five-year approval cycle for all curriculum.

Should new standards be adopted by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), the development and review cycle will be adjusted to ensure timely curriculum updates and review by the Board.

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Compile feedback from teachers and

school leadersReview

assessment trends

Curriculum changes, re-writes, revisions,

and/or enhancements completed by

content specialists and teacher teams

Engage parent/community stakeholder groups,

such as PCAB, to share updates and

solicit feedback

Summary of curriculum

updates and feedback is

shared with the Board of School Commissioners

Content staff will communicate changes to

teachers and school leaders

Professional development will be offered to support effective implementation

Written Curriculum Update and Development Process

SY16-17English/ Language

Arts, Health, Physical Education

SY17-18Mathematics

Fine Arts

SY18-19Science,

Technology

SY19-20Social Studies

SY20-21World & Classical Languages, ESOL

5 Year Cycle of Board Review and Approval

When a content area is up for the 5 year cycle of review and approval, staff follow the written curriculum update and development process to gather stakeholder feedback and plan for approval and implementation of the curriculum.

Curriculum ImplementationCurriculum Implementation is the professional development and structures designed to support written, taught, and assessed curriculum.

District and School ResponsibilitiesDistrict Responsibilities School Responsibilities

Develop and regularly update the written curriculum

Provide opportunities for content based professional development for teachers and school leaders

Guidance on instructional materials and resources aligned to district curriculum

Keep well informed of current research and best practices in content and pedagogy

Provide structured time for teacher collaborative planning, including review of student achievement data

Conduct formal and informal observations and coaching aligned to the Instructional Framework

Regularly convene Instructional Leadership Team to review school level data trends and inform school, grade, and content level adjustments in practice

Procure recommended instructional materials and resources

School Based Support StructuresCity Schools has a systemic support structure in place to implement written, taught, and assessed curriculum. Each school has an Instructional Leadership Team (ILT), teacher teams, collaborative planning structures, and a process for ongoing data analysis. Schools utilize these teams, tools and structures, and have ongoing support from a Community Learning Network (CLN) Team. CLN teams are led by an Instructional Leadership Executive Director (ILED) and supported by literacy and math Academic Content Liaisons (ACLs) and a Special Education Liaison (SEL).

Strong school-based teams, including teacher teams and ILTs are another condition for success that is supported through resources and CLN teams. Instructional Leadership Teams lead schools with instructional decision making aligned to school needs and strategic goals.

Regardless of the structure or system, whether in ILTs or teacher collaborative planning meetings, successful schools analyze data to plan and implement appropriate next steps. Data analysis is employed as a standard practice in City Schools and data-based decision making protocols vary by school but include a variety of structures that are supported by the CLN teams. ILEDs, ACLs, and SELs commonly support and train school leaders and teachers with data analysis in order to make a variety of strategic decisions including budgetary considerations and instructional next steps.

Professional DevelopmentBeyond support of the CLN, schools access professional development through a variety of structures, which increases time spent for learning, collaboration, and depth of study. This occurs through a variety of platforms, including face-to-face and online learning opportunities, and is implemented in alignment with the principles of adult learning.

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Professional Development Description

Professional Learning Communities (PLC)An ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in a recurring cycle of learning and inquiry to improve outcomes for their students.

Cycles of Professional Learning

Focused instructional and leadership content, aligned to district priorities, that engages district and school leadership in monthly development. These cycles serve as the foundation of support for CLNs, to which all other professional learning content is aligned.

Systemic Professional Development Sessions are offered to teachers on Systemic PD days throughout the school year focused on specific content or instructional areas

Achievement Unit/Leadership Unit Courses

Provide deep content learning over a consistent series of meetings; upon the completion of the course, participants can earn AUs or LUs

Embedded Curriculum SupportsInclude explanations for teachers regarding purposes for various lesson formats, guiding think-abouts within each lesson format for teachers to use while planning, scripted example language, and video clip support

Online and Developed Professional Development

Menu of content and instructional courses promote personalized digital learning for educators

New Teacher SupportsSupports for new teachers include a three-year induction experience, a five-day summer institute, ongoing site-based mentoring, and participation in PLCs and workshops.

Cycle of Professional Learning

The Cycle of Professional Learning is the foundation of the City Schools professional learning strategy to develop expertise in all staff through intentional cycles of high quality learning, followed by opportunities for practicing with upcoming curriculum, receiving timely feedback, observing colleagues, ongoing professional reading, and peer

discussion about the practices, including examining the impact of the practices on student learning by looking at student work and reviewing student performance data. The Cycle creates a structure that focuses the implementation of MCCRS across content areas into every classroom in City Schools.

The cycle begins with a series of collective learning sessions, in which district staff builds their own capacity and norm understandings with content, strategies for adult facilitation, and support in coaching schools with leadership actions. The district staff then administer differentiated content

learning sessions at the citywide learning sessions with school based ILTs. This content is reinforced and built upon at the CLN learning sessions. During the monthly math and literacy representative sessions, specific supports for teachers are provided that will reinforce the learning that takes place at the citywide and CLN sessions.

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Curriculum Monitoring and EvaluationCurriculum Monitoring and Evaluation includes procedures for evaluating implementation, determining revisions, and the protocols for determining effectiveness of curriculum using student achievement data, stakeholder feedback, and/or audits.

An important component of the monitoring and evaluation process is stakeholder feedback. While minor curriculum updates, revisions, and enhancements take place every year in response to teacher feedback and student data trends, the curriculum approval cycle provides an opportunity to formally engage stakeholders to ensure content staff have a broad base of feedback upon which to ground curriculum updates in advance of the formal board review process.

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Use of Implementation DataCLN staff provide trends in the implementation of the taught curriculum; this feedback informs professional

development and enhancements or adjustments to the written curriculum.

Use of Assessment DataAssessments are critical to the implementation and review

of the curriculum. Schools should have established routines for reviewing all students’ progress through

universal screening and progress monitoring tools. The teams reviewing the data include the ILT, collaborative

teams, and the Student Support Team (SST). In a classroom, the regular and consistent review of formative assessment data sources, including those conducted daily

in the classroom, is essential to inform the taught curriculum.

Updates to Written CurriculumDistrict curriculum writers review assessments to

determine the necessary revisions to curriculum. Also embedded in the actual curriculum are links and

opportunities for educators to provide feedback to staff on the components of the written curriculum.

Alignment to Instructional Framework and Rubric The Instructional Framework and Rubric, essential

elements of the taught curriculum, provide City Schools’ educators with descriptive language around best practices

that aid in the design and implementation of effective instruction. School leaders evaluate their teachers utilizing

the framework and rubric as the assessment tool. CLN teams conduct learning walks with school leaders in order

to support the use of the Instructional Framework and Rubric and identify school trends.

ReferencesBaltimore County Public Schools. (2007, June). Curriculum Management Plan. Maryland.

Bryan Independent School District. (2015, May). Curriculum Management Plan. Texas.

Cape Elizabeth Schools. (2008, June). Curriculum Management Plan. Maine.

Curriculum Management Systems, Inc. (2015). A Curriculum and Assessment Alignment Audit. Baltimore.

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