Scope and Sequence

Sharon Pinkerton
Summer 2009
What A Child Needs to Know and When
Have you ever wondered what is considered a distinctive course of study at a particular
grade level? Documents called scope and sequence charts endeavor to answer this
question. Basically, a scope and sequence spells out the complete content of a particular
curriculum (scope) and the order in which the curriculum presents that material
(sequence). There is nothing particularly mysterious about a scope and sequence
document, though it may be couched in more educationese than necessary.

What is scope and sequence?

Scope and sequence is a curriculum plan, usually in chart form, in which a range of
instructional objectives, skills, etc., is organized according to the successive ...

Scope and sequence is a content overview of all the units taught throughout the
year, including the length of time to be spent on each unit.

Scope and sequence is a document that allows students, staff and parents to see
what foundational pieces are being taught within a curriculum at specific grade
levels.

Scope and sequence is used to assure that students are taught the appropriate
skills and concepts in a sequence that is logical and systematic

What is the difference between scope and sequence

Scope
The breadth and depth of content to be covered in a curriculum at any one time
(e.g. week, term, year, over a students school life).All that you do in a given
period.

Sequence
The order in which content is presented to learners over time and the order in
which it is presented.

Together a scope and sequence of learning bring order to the delivery of content,
supporting the maximizing of student learning and offering sustained opportunities for
learning. Without a considered scope and sequence there is the risk of ad hoc content
delivery and the missing of significant learning.
Is the Framework a scope and sequence?

The new curriculum framework is a scope of learning. You might want to add to that
scope in terms of the worthwhile learning your school wishes to include.
The framework also offers a sequence of learning developed across four bands of
development.
The task of schools is to decide which part of the scope of learning happens at what point
within a band of development, i.e. what content is for what year level or group of
students. Teachers must decide the sequence of the learning within years, courses and
units of work.
There is also nothing sacred about a scope and sequence chart (although some state
legislatures, enamored with outcome-based educational content standards, would like
to think otherwise). Like a formal curriculum, the scope and sequence document should
be considered only a tool to help educators, not an end in itself. You should always do
what is best fora child; some children need a different curriculum or a different sequence
entirely from what a purchased curriculum presents.

Where can you find scope and sequence?

Scope and sequence materials encompass a variety of different kinds of documents. These
are the most common:

1. Publishers scope and sequence charts: These scope and sequence documents present
the content and sequence of a particular textbook. Almost all publishers will provide you
with a free copy of the scope and sequence for a textbook you are interested in

purchasing. Some are available online.

Saxon Math (http://www1.saxonpub.com/school/SS_NCTM.html%20)

2. Public and private schools scope and sequence documents: Most public schools and
many private schools maintain a curriculum committee that periodically reviews and
updates the schools scope and sequence for each subject area. Many schools publish
these documents on their Web sites, while others are available in paper form by
contacting the school. If you are interested in reviewing a public schools scope and
sequence document, this is considered public information to which you are entitled by
law, even if the document is not posted online. You can locate most American public and
private schools by using the link below:
American School Directory (http://www.asd.com/). This is a searchable database of all
U. S. public and private K-12 schools contact information and Web sites. Search the
schools Web site, or contact the individual school directly for its curriculum scope and
sequence document.

3. State and national scope and sequence documents: State scope and sequence
documents are sometimes called state standards, and exist for every state except
Iowa. National teacher organizations have also created national standards for each
subject area. In most, but not all, cases, these documents are heavily weighted toward
outcome-based education. In addition, they represent the requirements of government
schools only; in most states, private and home schools are free to determine their own
content standards and curriculum scope and sequence.
Complete links to both national and state education standards may be found here:
http://www.education-world.com/standards/

4. International scope and sequence documents: Unlike the United States, many countries
have an official national curriculum. These scope and sequence documents can be helpful
to international home schoolers who are only in the United States for a short period of
time and wish to keep their children up to date in their own countrys curriculum.
International scope and sequence documents can also be helpful to American homeschooling families who want to compare what they are teaching with the content and
skills presented to children in other areas of the world.

 Links to national curriculum documents from 20 different countries:

http://www.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ/standards.html
National Curriculum of England Online (http://www.nc.uk.net/home.html) (Its amazing
to see the British perspective on teaching about the American Revolution!)

5. Private organizations scope and sequence documents: A few private educational

organizations have published their own versions of a typical curriculum or course of study.
Two popular ones are listed below:
Core Knowledge Foundation Curriculum Sequence:
http://www.coreknowledge.org/CKproto2/about/overview.htm
World Book Typical Course of Study (Pre-K to Grade 12):
ttp://www2.worldbook.com/students/course_study_index.asp

6. Individuals scope and sequence: Some individuals have also published scope and
sequence documents. These range from the multi-volume What Your (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)
Grader Should Know, by E. D. Hirsch, to individual home-schooling families who have
developed a scope and sequence for their state home-school application or notification,
or posted their own home-schools scope and sequence on the Internet.
What is a scope and sequence document?

is a map

focuses on the interrelated strands of learning

shows development

is related to stages of development and/or to a particular stage of a students

schooling.

shows the range of knowledge (texts, language and learning processes)

shows progression in student development throughout the bands of schooling

How is a schools scope and sequence document best developed?

A schools scope and sequence is best through a process of negotiation, reflection and
consensus. It is an invaluable and practical tool for ensuring continuity across the grades
and bands of schooling when it:

guides grade level and whole school planning so that the same texts, topics and
activities are not repeated year after year with the same student ( e.g. the
structures and features of fairy tales might be explicitly taught as a particular text
type in Year 3, and then form a base for work on fairy tales and gender, or
contextual understanding, or heroes/heroines in other years.)

makes links between the learning, strategies and texts used in different grades or
stages.

assists the smooth transition of Records of Development and other information

about students experiences and achievements between grades or between
classes.

sets a local context which frames teachers planning of their classs

guides efficient resourcing of rich and balanced programs.

provides contexts for monitoring, auditing and evaluating programs and resources.

is a part of new teachers induction to the teaching at the school.

is revisited to plan collaboratively.

acts as a catalyst for whole school and/or individual professional development.

is available to parents and students to assist the setting of learning goals,

negotiation of appropriate learning activities, and monitoring of breadth and
balance in the program.

What will scope and sequence do?

support the work of teachers and school administrators to continue to learn more
effective ways to fuse curriculum and powerful tools of technology in new ways of
doing things in the classroom.

enable teachers to more easily link common curriculum outcomes with outcomes.
support the instructional leadership of school-based administrators to work with
staff to implement the outcomes.

support the development of Teacher Professional Growth Plans and mentoring

programs.
support work to create teaching plans, materials and assessments which infuse
technology within social studies, science, mathematics and language arts.

support professional development programs that focus directly on teacher

instructional development work with lesson and unit plans as well as student
activities and assessment.

Should a scope and sequence document be revisited?

A schools scope and sequence document should be revisited to ensure that it:
is meeting the practical requirements of the students, the teachers and the school
includes new resources accommodates developments in the teaching
How should you use a scope and sequence document?

Remember that the content, pace, and sequence of the materials recommended vary
widely from document to document, curriculum to curriculum, and publisher to publisher.
Not all fourth grade math curricula teach the same topics in the same order over the
same time frame as others, and in areas such as science and social studies, there is
usually even less agreement between publishers, states, organizations, and individuals
about proposed content. Like any other curricular material, a scope and sequence chart
should be used only as a tool.
References:
http://www1.saxonpub.com/school/SS_NCTM.html%20

http://www.asd.com/
http://www.education-world.com/standards/
http://www.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ/standards.html
http://www.nc.uk.net/home.html
http://www.coreknowledge.org/CKproto2/about/overview.htm
ttp://www2.worldbook.com/students/course_study_index.asp