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Curriculum compacting

Curriculum compacting is different from subject acceleration in that the student’s actual levels of knowledge and skills are assessed through pre-testing, determining what will be learned next. Once the student’s levels of knowledge are assessed, the curriculum of a specific domain is assessed against what the student already knows. The areas of the curriculum that the student already demonstrates mastery in are replaced by curricula that are more appropriate to the student’s learning needs 

The purpose of curriculum compacting is to reduce the amount of repetition that the student receives. The student should already be able to demonstrate a high level of mastery of knowledge in the subject being tested, perhaps achieving on pre-test 80—85 per cent against the measured outcomes. Students need not have undergone a cognitive assessment, but should demonstrate high mastery levels and be confident and have a ‘passion’ for the subject area concerned. They should generally be highly motivated to learn.

Example

A student in Year 3 displays a keen interest and aptitude in mathematics. Diagnostic testing, off level achievement testing or assessment against the VELS outcomes for Year 3, suggest the student is achieving at a beginning Year 5 level. A mathematics program is tailored to address any ‘gaps’ in the student’s knowledge at the earlier year levels and to introduce the student to a formal program of mathematics study at, perhaps, a Year 5 and Year 6 level. The student is then assessed on the same outcomes as for the higher-year students. Pre-testing continually occurs for every new topic area introduced and topic material is adjusted against the student’s demonstrated knowledge.

Key elements in the research

Large research studies have shown that up to 80 per cent of the curriculum at year level could be eliminated for “extremely bright students”. For the top 10—15 per cent of students up to 40—50 per cent of the regular humanities and maths curriculum could be eliminated without negative effects to measures of student achievement.

Gifted and high potential students whose curriculum was compacted, scored significantly higher than those gifted students whose curriculum was not compacted. Repetition and drill lead to forgetting and mis-learning in gifted and high potential students.

Research has shown that when teachers were taught how to compact, not only were benefits to students shown, but ‘[curriculum compacting] saved time for teachers…allowed them the freedom to extend their curriculum… and the enrichment activities sparked interest and increased student learning’ (Stamp 2004, p 40).

Steps to compacting

Steps to compacting include (Reis and Renzulli 1992; Renzulli and Reis 1998):

  • defining the outcomes of the instructional unit using curriculum guides, scope and sequence charts
  • determining what material is repeated within the course
  • pre-testing students against the learning outcomes
  • identifying students who have already mastered this material
  • removing repeated material for those students who have demonstrated mastery
  • replacing removed material with enrichment activities which might include alternative assignments, self-directed learning assignments or acceleration activities such as studying material in the next unit of the curriculum or undertaking other advanced assignments.