Middle school teachers' perceptions of the value and efficacy of curriculum mapping and state standards

Within middle level education, curriculum mapping and state standards-based curriculum have been identified as important strategies to improve school performance. However, the effectiveness of curriculum mapping and state standards are largely influenced by the degree to which educators perceive the model and processes as valuable reform efforts. As there was little evidence within the literature to suggest that adequate information has been gathered on teachers' perceptions concerning standards-based curriculum and tools for improving school performance in aligning to state standards, the study, in response to this problem, was implemented to explore teachers' perceptions regarding these school reform efforts. The overall questions guiding the study were what are teachers' perceptions of the curriculum mapping process as a school improvement tool and as a tool to help teachers align their curricular offerings to the applicable state standards.;The research design selected for the study was a survey with some of the possible relationships between the variables explored by correlations. Fifty-five teachers at a middle school in central Illinois were the survey participants. As the major findings of the study suggest, curriculum mapping and state standards are perceived as valuable tools in school reform as well as beneficial to teachers and students in classroom efforts to enhance learning. One of the most frequently reported problems associated with these tools was that teachers often find themselves attempting to implement them without sufficient time having been allocated to their schedule for the successful accomplishment of this aspect of their role. Conclusions of the study focus on the need for professional development changes to further improve the implementation of curriculum mapping and state standards while recommendations emphasize the importance of ongoing research to further document teachers' perceptions on the use of these tools and the need for future outcome research to document effectiveness.