The Nested Curriculum Hierarchy

A curriculum is not a flat list of topics. It is a hierarchy. Broad goals at the top become specific objectives at the bottom. The hierarchy connects the long-term purpose of education down to what students do in a single 40-minute lesson.

The five levels of the hierarchy

Most well-designed curriculum documents use five layers.

Layer 1: Competencies. The big skill areas of a subject. For English Language, the four competencies are reading, writing, listening, and speaking. For Mathematics, competencies might include numeracy, geometry, and algebraic thinking. Each subject has a small number of competencies (usually 3-5) that describe the subject’s whole shape.

Layer 2: Standards. What students should be able to do in each competency by the end of schooling (often Class 12). A standard is broad but specific to that competency. For reading: “Students will be able to explore and understand a variety of text types through tasks that require multiple reading and thinking strategies for comprehension, fluency, and enjoyment.”

A standard names the end state: where students should be after twelve years of schooling. It does not say how they get there. That comes next.

Layer 3: Benchmarks. What students should achieve at each grade level on the way to the standard. Benchmarks divide the journey to the standard across grades. The Class 1 benchmark is more basic than the Class 5 benchmark, which is more basic than the Class 10 benchmark.

For the reading standard, here is the Class 1-2 benchmark: “The student recognizes words and sentences as meaningful units of expression and paragraphs as graphic units of expression.”

A benchmark is what a student should be able to do by the end of a specific grade level (or pair of grade levels). It is the year-level destination.

Layer 4: Learning outcomes. Specific outcomes that contribute to the benchmark. A learning outcome is finer than a benchmark but broader than a single lesson. Multiple learning outcomes together produce a benchmark.

For the Class 1-2 reading benchmark, sample learning outcomes include:

1. Predict the story by looking at the pictures and pictures in text.
2. Locate specific factual information and answer in a word, two, or simple sentences.
3. Guess what follows in the story.
4. Follow a sequence in a simple procedure.
5. Express likes and dislikes about the story.
6. Express understanding of the story through simple role play.

Each learning outcome covers a specific skill within the broader benchmark. A unit plan typically targets one or several learning outcomes.

Layer 5: Instructional objectives. What students will be able to do by the end of a single lesson. An instructional objective is the smallest unit. Multiple lesson-level objectives over several days combine to produce a learning outcome.

For the learning outcome “predict the story by looking at the pictures”, a sample instructional objective: “By the end of the lesson, students will be able to describe the first four pictures of the Goldilocks story with almost 70% accuracy by using picture cues.”

How the hierarchy nests

The five layers nest cleanly. Each layer is a specific case of the layer above.

Competency: Reading
 └── Standard: Explore and understand text types fluently (Class 12)
 └── Benchmark: Understand sentences and paragraphs (Class 1-2)
 └── Learning Outcome: Predict the story by looking at pictures
 └── Lesson Objective: Describe Goldilocks pictures with 70% accuracy

A teacher who writes a lesson objective should be able to trace it upward through the hierarchy: this objective serves this learning outcome, which serves this benchmark, which serves this standard, which serves this competency.

If the trace breaks, the objective is misaligned. The teacher is teaching something that does not connect to the curriculum’s goals.

Why the hierarchy matters

The hierarchy gives a teacher answers to three important questions.

Question 1: What should I teach today? Answer: something that serves a learning outcome, which serves a benchmark, which serves a standard, which serves a competency. Without the hierarchy, “what should I teach” has no clear answer beyond “the next page in the textbook”.

Question 2: How specific should this lesson be? Answer: specific enough to be reachable in 40-50 minutes (an instructional objective), broad enough to contribute to the larger learning outcome.

Question 3: How do I know if my lesson worked? Answer: did students reach the lesson objective? If yes, the lesson contributed to the learning outcome. If many students reach the learning outcomes across many lessons, they are reaching the benchmark. If they reach the benchmark, they are on track for the standard.

The hierarchy turns vague goals into trackable progress. A teacher who plans through the hierarchy can see which standards are being reached and which are not. Adjustments can be made at the right level.

Working with the curriculum document

A practical point: have the curriculum document open when planning. The document is where the hierarchy lives.

For Pakistani schools, the National Curriculum documents (developed in 2006-2007 and updated since) provide the full hierarchy for each subject. Other countries have similar documents. International schools often follow IB or Cambridge frameworks that have their own hierarchies.

A teacher who has not read their curriculum document is operating on assumptions. A teacher who has read it can place every lesson in the larger structure.

Flashcard

What are the five layers of the curriculum hierarchy from broadest to most specific?

Tap to reveal

Answer

Competency, standard, benchmark, learning outcome, instructional objective

Competency: the big skill area of a subject (e.g., reading).

Standard: what students achieve by Class 12 in that competency.

Benchmark: what students achieve by each grade level.

Learning outcome: specific outcomes contributing to the benchmark.

Instructional objective: what students do in a single lesson.