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Administrators NEW to Curriculum Trak - Checklist

This document has been prepared for an administrator who is new to a school, and it is intended to familiarize you with Curriculum Trak, a program already in use by the school you have recently joined.

  • Curriculum Trak is an online curriculum mapping software made for teachers and designed to simply focus on planning and tracking the curriculum taught in your school. Since Curriculum Trak is customizable, the template that has been set up for your school is unique; it was most likely designed by a former administrator, a curriculum director, or leadership team.  Your template has different fields where teachers input information that pertains to each column;  information can be entered as either district or individual content.

    If you have questions about any of the information above, you are encouraged to watch one of the videos listed.

    > User Database - Import Users
    > District vs. Individual Fields
     
  • Before teachers can add content into their maps, they were first entered into your school’s user database and attached to the courses they teach. When a teacher logs into CT, each course will be listed on their homepage.  Typically teachers enter the content for each of their units into the Curriculum Trak template within the timeframe it is covered in the classroom.  Unit resources used by the teacher should be attached; this provides easy access to any information the teacher can use when planning the lessons for the units they teach.

    When your school goes through staff changes, whether this is adding teachers or changing the grade or subjects someone teaches, there is work to be done on your part.  Deleting teachers should be done with caution!   If new courses need to be added into your curriculum, there is also work for the CT administrator to do.

    > Attaching Teachers to Courses
    > Attaching Courses to Teachers
    > Changes in Staff
     
  • General Information You May Find Helpful:

    > The pencil icon allows you to edit; the paper clip icon allows you to attach.
    > Attachments can be connected to units and/or entire courses; documents, websites or newly created materials can be attached within your curriculum maps.
    > Timeframes and Units must be created prior to “seeing” your mapping template.
    > There are three permission levels within Curriculum Trak: administrators, editors, and viewers.  An administrator of Curriculum Trak is the person(s) responsible for setting up your school’s account information (users and courses), managing the work teachers do, and troubleshooting problems as they arise.  Administrators have access to the Support Center where they typically can get answers to questions or help with problems within twenty-four hours during the normal work week. (User Permissions Video)
    > Your school’s Curriculum Trak address ends with its unique member ID number ( for example: http://app.curriculumtrak.com/client/index.cfm?memberid=1921).  Teachers should be encouraged to bookmark or shortcut this address.  Curriculum Trak is a web-based program and can be accessed from any computer.  If you or a teacher forgets or loses the school’s address, you can send an email to support@curriculumtrak.com.
    > As a CT administrator, you can receive help with Curriculum Trak by accessing our Support Center (tab located to the right of the Users Database).  A ticket will be generated for you to ask questions or describe the problem you are having.  Our goal is to respond to tickets within 24 hours during the normal work week.  Editors and Viewers within CT do not have this access.  Instead, they are encouraged to come to a CT administrator or look through the library of videos that are available to assist them.  Videos can be found under the help tab (help manual) or access through this link.  
     
  • Not only does Curriculum Trak allow schools the ability to create maps that specifically fit with their curricular goals and objectives, schools have the choice as to the standards and benchmarks with which they align their curriculum. Someone at your school has most likely already made this decision. The standards and benchmarks for the four core areas of math, science, social studies and English language arts were uploaded for your school as part of the initial purchase price.  

    Some schools have also ordered standards for other subjects, for example, PE or music standards; these teachers are taking advantage of aligning their curriculum to specific standards as well.  The cost for extra standards is a one-time charge to a school.  Once someone from Curriculum Trak uploaded the standards for your school, your school’s CT administrator should have attached grade-specific benchmarks to each of the school’s courses.  Later, as teachers map their units, they literally attached the appropriate benchmarks to each of the units they teach.  

    Unless the former administrator of Curriculum Trak has made changes in the program, the depths of learning used by teachers during this process are identified as instructed (I) or assessed (A).  By default, the N (not covered) option is checked.  Teachers must determine at what “depth” a benchmark is covered during a unit.  Instructed refers to a skill/objective that is taught and practiced whereas Assessed refers to a skill/objective that has been taught and its mastery was assessed.

    If you have questions about any of the information above, you are encouraged to watch one of the videos listed.

    > Attaching Standards / Benchmarks to Courses  (administrator task)
    > Attaching Benchmarks to Units  (teacher task)
    > Ordering Additional Standards and Benchmarks: Go to the Available Standards list under your Standards/Benchmarks tab; view and select the ones you want to order.  Simply check the appropriate box of the additional standards you would like Curriculum Trak to upload.
     
  • The Reports tab lists the different reports that can be generated from the information entered into Curriculum Trak.  These reports vary in nature and are accessible by both administrator and teacher.  One report shows a general scope and sequence of the units entered, one shows the progress teachers are making with their mapping, and another allows you to see each teacher and the courses to which they are attached.  In addition, there are reports which administrators can use to identify the gaps and overlaps within their school’s curriculum.  Course by Benchmark, Benchmark Map, and and the Keyword Reports name a few of the reports that are helpful in this regard. 

    > Benchmark Reports
    > Each report has a video explaining the information it provides; these are located mid-way down the page listed below.  https://support.curriculumtrak.com/support/mapping-functions.cfm
     
  • Your school’s curriculum maps can be shared with your constituents once they are deemed “ready for viewing”.  A rubric has been created to help schools ensure their curriculum maps are of the highest quality.  This tool is geared for in-house use by teachers and administrators and aims to help move schools from having "good" to "great" curriculum maps. (see below).

    To share information from Curriculum Trak with your school families, maps and/or lesson plans are linked to your school’s public website.  As a CT administrator, you have the ability to setup and manage the specific fields you wish your parents to see.

    ​For more details about the information above, see below:

    > Assessment Rubric
    > Setting up Public Access
     
  • Curriculum Trak has two add-on features your school may already be using or may be interested in exploring.

    > Lesson Planner:  CT also has an electronic lesson planner that your school may be using.  The Lesson Planner is similar to your curriculum maps in that schools create their unique template.  The planner is connected with your unit maps; therefore benchmarks and attachments can be directly transferred from a unit overview into a specific lesson.  Principals can easily view the lesson plans developed by their teachers.  For more information about this lesson planner, please watch this video.

    > Faith-Learning Integration Curriculum Add-on:  Dr. Mark Eckel has partnered with CT and created a synthesis of biblical ideas intended to embed faith concepts into the different subject areas being taught in Christian schools.  If you have teachers new to Christian education, this would be a valuable tool as it provides four major strands for each subject area.  Each strand includes the discipline’s philosophy, biblical foundations, understandings / attitudes / outcomes, and activities / ideas / questions.  For your teachers who are experienced working in Christian education, this tool serves to broaden their thinking and become more intentional about the faith learning integration they provide their students.  For more information about this add-on, you are encouraged to go to the Faith Learning Integration Support page.