Curriculum Alignment: Intended, Taught, and Learned
This paper examines curriculum alignment as a critical component of educational reform, focusing on the relationship between the intended curriculum, the taught curriculum, and the learned curriculum. It defines each curriculum type and explores why aligning them is essential to achieving learning goals and objectives. The paper highlights instructional strategies — particularly scaffolded instruction — as the most effective tools for achieving internal curriculum alignment. It discusses the three major components of scaffolded instruction: planning, attention to student characteristics and needs, and the use of routine teaching techniques that support student independence and mirror the standards embedded in the intended curriculum.
- Introduction to Curriculum Alignment: Reform context driving curriculum alignment interest
- Defining the Three Curricula: Definitions of intended, taught, and learned curricula
- Instructional Strategies and Internal Alignment: Role of instructional strategies in aligning curricula
- Scaffolded Instruction as a Curriculum Alignment Tool: Scaffolded instruction components and alignment benefits
- Planning and Student-Centered Teaching in Scaffolded Instruction: How planning and teaching style connect all three curricula
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper builds logically from broad educational reform context down to a specific, practical instructional strategy, giving readers a clear conceptual ladder to follow.
- Each key term (intended curriculum, taught curriculum, learned curriculum) is precisely defined before being used analytically, preventing ambiguity in the argument.
- The selection of scaffolded instruction is well-justified through its direct connection to curriculum alignment goals, making the recommendation feel evidence-based rather than arbitrary.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of definition-then-application structure. It first establishes authoritative definitions from cited sources, then uses those definitions as analytical anchors to build its argument about alignment strategies. This technique is especially useful in education papers where terminology can vary widely across sources.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with the policy context driving interest in curriculum alignment, then defines the three curriculum types. It transitions to a discussion of instructional strategies as alignment tools and narrows to scaffolded instruction specifically. It concludes by walking through scaffolded instruction's three components and explaining how each contributes to alignment across the three curricula. The structure is funnel-shaped: broad context → conceptual definitions → specific strategy → practical application.
Introduction to Curriculum Alignment
The field of education has experienced significant reforms in the past decade due to the need for a standards-based, accountability-centered, and systematically integrated approach for enhancing the quality and outcomes of learning (Porter & Smithson, 2001). As a result of these reforms, policymakers, researchers, and other relevant stakeholders have become interested in examining the curriculum delivered to students. This interest has primarily focused on the link between the taught curriculum and the intended curriculum. In light of this, curriculum alignment has emerged as an important aspect of promoting student learning success and the achievement of learning goals and objectives. Aligning the intended curriculum, the taught curriculum, and the learned curriculum is therefore vital to enhancing learning outcomes.
Defining the Three Curricula
According to Seitz (2017), curriculum is defined as all courses offered at a school, or the learning of students as directed by the school. The intended curriculum refers to the standards, guidelines, content, and frameworks that teachers are expected to deliver to students. The taught curriculum refers to the content actually delivered to students by teachers based on those expectations. The learned curriculum refers to the content that students have acquired, measured by their level of competence or proficiency. While the alignment of these three curricula is crucial to the achievement of learning goals and objectives, it is a complex and time-consuming endeavor (Watermeyer, n.d.). As a result, various practical, organizational, and instructional strategies can be utilized to bring these three curricula into alignment.
Instructional Strategies and Internal Alignment
Among the most helpful strategies for ensuring alignment across the three curricula are instructional strategies. Drake & Burns (2004) state that instructional strategies provide a suitable framework for the internal alignment of these curricula. Internal alignment occurs when instructional strategies and classroom assessments reflect the intent and language of the standards, frameworks, and guidelines of education. Instructional strategies are defined as techniques utilized by teachers and instructors to help students become independent and strategic learners (Alberta Learning, 2002). These strategies are considered effective when they help students independently choose suitable approaches for learning and accomplishing desired goals and objectives.
Scaffolded Instruction as a Curriculum Alignment Tool
With regard to curriculum alignment, the use of instructional strategies helps to ensure that the learned curriculum reflects the intended and taught curricula. The most beneficial instructional strategy for this purpose is scaffolded instruction. According to Winn (1994), scaffolded instruction is a strategy in which teachers challenge students to engage in learning activities they would be unable to complete independently. During this process, teachers provide students with the necessary support to understand the tasks and carry them out successfully. The three major components of scaffolded instruction are: planning, attention to the characteristics and needs of students, and the use of a consistent teaching style or technique to achieve learning outcomes.
References
Alberta Learning. (2002). Instructional strategies. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from
Drake, S. M., & Burns, R. C. (2004). Meeting standards through integrated curriculum. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/103011/chapters/Using-Standards-to-Integrate-the-Curriculum.aspx
Porter, A. C., & Smithson, J. L. (2001, December). Defining, developing, and using curriculum indicators. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from http://www.cpre.org/sites/default/files/researchreport/788_rr48.pdf
Seitz, P. (2017). Curriculum alignment among the intended, enacted, and assessed curricula for Grade 9 mathematics. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 15(1), 72–94.
Watermeyer, R. (n.d.). Curriculum alignment, articulation and the formative development of the learner. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from
Winn, J. A. (1994, February 1). Promises and challenges of scaffolded instruction. Learning Disability Quarterly, 17(1), 89–104.
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