Curriculum Reform: Exploring Teacher and Leader Experiences With Curriculum Storyboards Through a Case Study 2 views

In an effort to strengthen curriculum coherence and transparency, one of the district’s priorities in their Comprehensive Plan, CD School District introduced curriculum storyboards as their first step. Curriculum coherence is essential for high-quality instructional systems (Schmidt et al., 2005; Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). Curriculum storyboards are a visual tool intended to strengthen coherence, clarify expectations, and communicate learning to students, families, and educators. In CD School District, they were selected to develop a consistent and coherent year-long overview of learning. The success of this initiative depended on how teachers interpret, engage with, and integrate curriculum storyboards in practice (Coburn, 2005; Guskey, 2002). Therefore, this exploratory case study of CD School District examined how teachers experienced curriculum storyboards during their first year of implementation and identified the supports and barriers shaping their use. Data was collected through a districtwide teacher survey with responses from 18 participants and semi-structured interviews with three total participant volunteers (one teacher and two leaders). Descriptive statistics, thematic coding, and cross-comparison were used to analyze the data collected. Findings suggested CD School District established a promising foundation for curriculum coherence through storyboards specifically 1) storyboards supported teachers’ initial sensemaking by clarifying the year-long learning arc, strengthening curriculum coherence, and promoting shared language 2) enabling conditions (collaboration, feedback, clear models) supported development, while barriers (limited time, inconsistent expectations, uneven collaboration structures) constrained deeper engagement. These findings inform recommendations for deepening instructional use through clear expectations and differentiated professional learning.

EDD (Doctor of Education)

curriculum coherence; curriculum storyboards; exploratory case study; sensemaking; enabling conditions; barriers

English

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2026-04-24