Recently Waterford.org was hiring a remote Correlations Manager, looking for candidates with teaching experience. This is the kind of job many of you debate applying to because there are hundreds of ‘applicants’ on LinkedIn. This role, however, closed (on LinkedIn) with only 42* clicks. 

Even though it received far less attention, a quick read of the job description demonstrates it’s a great job for current k12 educators to consider. Educators, though, are more familiar with curriculum alignment than curriculum correlation so I think it gets overlooked. 

And, when Waterford recently posted a more entry-level correlations role, – Curriculum Correlations Specialist – they added the word “curriculum” to catch more transitioning teachers’ search terms.

It’s not a particularly common role, which is another reason I think it’s not on educator’s radars. In the last month, I’ve seen three companies hiring for this role nationally and many of the people who get the role stay for a long time. 

A Correlation Manager correlates curriculum with state and national standards. This definition sounds very straightforward and precisely an experience most k-12 educators have. But there are a few differences that distinguish this from the work you do with colleagues aligning standards with your school’s curriculum.

Correlations Managers create documentation that indicates the precise lessons in their curriculum that target each relevant standard. This involves a lot of database work (carefully tagging the relevant data)  and then date reporting work (presenting it in a report or table that shows the alignments). The role also often requires project management work (such as internal/external communications or coordinating with contractors and keeping projects organized and on track). 

It is different from curriculum alignment work, though they share many core features: correlation work is done to demonstrate to large curriculum purchasers/approvers (like a state Department of Education) how a particular curriculum satisfies their standards. 
Curriculum alignment is typically done to identify specifically the lesson plans that will be taught that semester or year and insure the relevant standards are fully covered. If you compare Imagine Learning’s Content & Alignment Specialist role (which I posted this week), you’ll see the subtle shift in focus: more attention to creating customized courses and products so the end-user here is the teacher, not the purchaser. 

While they utilize similar techniques, they have different audiences and target different stages in the curriculum adoption and implementation process. Correlation happens on a macro level that takes the entire curriculum into consideration while alignment is more targeted to specific classrooms and school programs. 
For example, a curriculum correlation will identify every single page or lesson that correlates to a particular standard; a curriculum alignment will identify specific standards that need to be taught and then pick and choose a selection of lessons from the entire curriculum (or even multiple curricula). 

Both require a strong knowledge of curriculum in order to identify curriculum relationships or standards gaps as well as how to differentiate learning for particular audiences. But, again, the work creates a distinct product that is used in a distinct context. 
If you’re interested in this role, pay attention to full-time roles but also look for freelance or contract opportunities. (When part-time roles share a good hourly rate, I include them in the job board.) But many edtech publishing companies hire correlation contractors, and you can reach out to the Correlations Coordinator (at larger companies) or the Correlations Director to ask how to be added to their freelancer list. 

This role is perfect for educators who have served on curriculum committees or have done extensive curriculum work for their school/district so it is worth evaluating when you see it!

*Did you expect a hitchhiking joke here? Nope! A PSA instead: LinkedIn considers every click on the “apply” button as an application, and they don’t know what happens once someone leaves the page. Clicks do not equal applicants. 

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