Attaching benchmarks to courses is often a joint effort between an administrator who identifies the set of standards to which a course should align and the teacher whose job it is to achieve those standards or benchmarks and report on that in the course maps. From a technical perspective, it is quite easy for an administrator from within the Courses Database to identify benchmarks from several program areas for which a single course is responsible. These benchmarks could reflect inter-disciplinary integration efforts, school-wide outcomes for which every course is responsible, or an elective course that enters several different areas of instruction. Multiple sets from multiple areas are easily attached to any course with a few clicks.
For a map editor entering through the standards/benchmarks paperclip within the map or the unit plan view, it has been somewhat difficult to see every standard/benchmark for which a single course may be responsible if some of those were listed outside of the program area in which the course is stored in. A math course will be listed in the mathematics program area and the editor will only see the mathematics standards or benchmarks. In order to see English Language Arts standards/benchmarks, the editor was required to switch between program areas to find additional benchmarks using the dropdown at the top of the screen (see screenshot above).
The latest enhancement to Curriculum Trak now allows the teacher to see all of the benchmarks identified for the course by simply checking the “Show only those benchmarks attached to the course.” This option used to only show one program area at a time. Now it will filter in all attached benchmarks regardless of which program area those benchmarks were originally listed. This will make standards and benchmark alignment even easier on course editors. They should be encouraged to check that box whenever they are working with standards or benchmarks. They can then uncheck the box if they want to review and report on benchmarks outside of those identified by the administrator and use the variety of other search or sort methods offered.
If you have any questions about how this feature can be used to its fullest extent, please contact support.
