Skip to content

Heidi Hayes Jacobs

Friend of the College

heidi JacobsHeidi Hayes Jacobs is Executive Director of the Curriculum Mapping Institute and President of Curriculum Designers, Inc. (www.curriculumdesigners.com). She is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of curriculum and instruction. She has served as an education consultant to schools nationally and internationally on issues and practices pertaining to: curriculum reform, instructional strategies to encourage critical thinking, and strategic planning. She is the author of “Interdisciplinary Curriculum: Design and Implementation” and “Mapping the Big Picture: Integrating Curriculum and Assessment K–12”, “Getting Results with Curriculum Mapping”, all published by ASCD. “Active Literacy across the Curriculum: Strategies for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening” is published by Eye on Education. Dr. Jacobs has published numerous articles which have appeared in professional journals. Her new book was just released by ASCD: The Curriculum Mapping Planner: Templates and Tools for Effective Professional Development, co-authored with Ann Johnson; and, Curriculum 21: Essential Education for A Changing World is soon to be released.

She has taught courses at Teachers College, Columbia University, NYC, from 1981 to the present. Dr. Jacobs has worked with the College Board, NBC Sunday Today Show, PBS Teacherline, the Discovery Channel, Children's Television Workshop, CBS National Sunrise Semester, ASCD, The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, New York City Ballet Education Department at Lincoln Center, Peace Corps, the National School Conference Institute, the Disney Company, Prentice-Hall Publishing, the Near East School Association, East Asian Council of Overseas Schools, The Tri-Association of Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean, the International Baccalaureate, the European Council of International Schools, and state education departments. She has been interviewed and featured in the New York Times, Educational Leadership, and Child Magazine, NASSP's High School and National Public Radio's “Talk of the Nation” Broadcast. Dr. Jacobs has published curriculum materials with Prentice Hall, Milton-Bradley, the Electric Company, and Bowmar Publishing. ASCD has two video series focusing on Dr. Jacobs' curriculum models. In addition, Video Journal of Education features a series on her work, including Aurora Awards platinum award-winning Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening across the Curriculum video series.

Her doctoral work was completed at Columbia University's Teachers College in 1981, where she studied under a national Graduate Leadership Fellowship from the United States Office of Education. Her master's degree is from UMASS at Amherst and her undergraduate studies were at the University of Utah in her hometown of Salt Lake City. The fundamental backbone of her experience comes from her years as a teacher of high school, junior high school, and elementary children in Utah, Massachusetts, and New York. In 2002 Dr. Jacobs created the Faye and Charolette Bryner Scholarship Fund for Native American Students in the College of Education. She is married with two children and lives in Westchester County, New York.

Last Updated: 3/15/21