Assessing the Application of Curriculum Mapping by Elementary School Teachers

The purpose of present study was to assess the application of curriculum mapping by elementary school teachers. This study is a descriptive survey. The participants of the study were chosen from all 420 teachers of elementary schools of Gachsaran city, in school year 97-98; 201 teachers were chosen as participants of this study through stratified random sampling. The instrumentation of this study consisted of self-made questionnaire which was made by the researcher using Jacobs’s seven-step framework (2004) in order to evaluate the application of curriculum mapping by elementary school teachers. The validity of the questionnaire was proved by the expert panel, and its reliability was assessed through a pilot study with 30 participants who were teachers; the Cranach’s Alpha was 87%. Collected data were analyzed through one-sample T-test. The results showed that generally, teachers of elementary schools acted poorly using seven steps of curriculum mapping introduced by Jacobs (2004) in order to assess implemented curriculum. In other words, teacher did not have a major role in assessing the way the curriculum mapping is implemented; while using this technique can provide a chance for modification and improvement of intended, implemented and attained curriculums. Implementation of programs and textbooks requires conditions such as satisfaction with the current situation, acquisition of knowledge and skills required by executives, availability of resources and facilities for hardware, software, finance, etc. to run, the necessary time to learn, adapt and reflect on the implementation by the presenters.