Why use curriculum compacting, or…why should you be like a trash compactor?

If you read the first part of this series on curriculum compacting, you know that the basic premise behind the instructional practice is allowing students to skip content that they have already shown mastery of, thereby moving them further through the material in less time.

So where does trash compactor idea come into play?

A trash compactor squishes a whole bunch of stuff into a smaller space, just as curriculum compacting squishes a whole bunch of stuff (content) into a smaller span of time.

“So what? Why on earth should I go through the trouble of organizing my units for curriculum compacting? After all, it isn’t all about moving through content fast, right? It is about making sure students understand ideas in depth.”

Yes, that is true! We want our students to be able to understand ideas deeply, not just quickly. The problem arises, however, when your instruction moves at too slow of a pace for your students to ever reach those higher levels of thinking.

A Case Study

Let’s consider, for example, a student in a fifth grade math class. This student has consistently demonstrated an advanced understanding of mathematical concepts since he entered school in Kindergarten. His teacher, like most teachers across the country, routinely pre-assesses students and compares the data to post-assessment scores as a part of weekly team meetings. Without fail, this student shows proficiency in more than half of the upcoming content for the unit. However, because his teacher does not use curriculum compacting, the student must follow along with the class through the learning activities and tasks of the unit.

The green squares in the image below represent the time when he is learning something new to him. The red squares represent the time that he has to sit through class about a topic he already knows. Times when he is not learning.

That looks like a whole lot of red space to me. So much time was wasted for this student when he was forced to sit through a lesson he already understood. This model does not support any attempt at deepening student understanding of content beyond grade level standards (and sometimes, classes don’t even get to that level because they are so busy helping students who struggle). You have likely experienced the difficulties that arise when advanced students are not intellectually stimulated- behavior problems are not unusual!

A Better Way

What would this child’s experience look like over the same four week period of time if his teacher used curriculum compacting? If instead of making him sit through classes he simply does not need, we compact his learning and allow him time to further stretch and deepen his understanding of the core content he has already demonstrated grade level knowledge of. We would be taking an opportunity to meet his unique needs as a gifted learner. If we commit to restructuring his class for curriculum compacting, his month-long learning experience might resemble this instead.

Below, the green squares represent time spent learning content and reaching grade level understanding. The blue squares represent time spent deepening his understanding.

Suddenly, the student spends only the eight days he needs to reach grade level understanding of the math concepts. Then he is able to spend the other 12 days deepening, enriching, accelerating through more challenging activities. Activities that are appropriate to his needs. Instead of disrupting the class because he is bored, he is now learning at his level. Instead of feeling frustrated, annoyed, or depressed that he has to sit there through the material he already knows, he can focus on the work of actually learning.

You want me to do what?!

Ok, ok. Anyone who has taught in a classroom is probably thinking at this point, “Are you nuts?! Can you even imagine organizing individual learning paths for each student in my class? Everyone would be doing something different. There would be anarchy and chaos and fire would rain down from above!”

Well, maybe you didn’t take it that far…

But you are probably a little bit concerned about what you see as potentially a huge amount of work to make curriculum compacting work in your classroom. Have no fear. I wouldn’t have told you WHAT curriculum compacting is and WHY you should do it if I wasn’t also prepared to tell you HOW to make it happen (without making yourself crazy). That, my friends, is what the next post in this series is all about. Stay tuned!