https://www.quora.com/Who-decides-the-education-curriculum-for-elementary-middle-and-high-school-in-the-United-States
Bonita Johnston Deamicis
, Currently a school administrator
Answered 1 year ago · Author has 416 answers and 1.2M answer views
Choosing educational curriculum in the USA is a more complicated process than a decision made by one entity.
First, many questions on Quora suggest people are confused at the difference between curriculum, teaching methods, and standards.
Standards are the expectations for learning at each grade level. For instance, in first grade mathematics children are expected to learn basic addition, while in third and fourth grade they learn and practice multiplication and division. The Common Core Standards were organized by a coalition of state governors who wanted to create a norm across states (so that when a child moved from Minnesota to California, they would still be learning the same things) that would represent what we know about when children should learn different things. So basically, the Common Core Standards (and other state standards) are merely a list of learning expectations by grade level. Standards are not the same as curriculum.
Curriculum refers to the adopted materials (usually textbooks, sometimes software or science kits) that will be used to teach children to reach the expected standards. Different states and school districts and even schools choose curriculum differently. In California, the state typically provides a list of “approved” curriculums that as per committees of educators provide good quality access to the expected standards. Districts and schools choose what they want to use as curriculum from the approved list (although this requirement has been loosened a bit in California). In my last three districts curriculum was chosen with the following steps:
- A team at the district level, sometimes with teacher input, selected from 2–5 “state approved” textbooks in a given subject area and presented those textbooks to teachers to evaluate.
- Teachers came to presentations by the textbook companies and/or perused the different textbook choices at a display. Select teachers often “pilot” the books, meaning they use them temporarily with their students.
- Teachers voted which textbook they would prefer (in a tie, the district leadership made the decision).
- The School Board then approved the textbook choice at a formal Governing Board meeting where parents could attend and give opinions.
- Each subject area (math, English, social studies, science) goes through the same process for curriculum selection and this is typically done every 7–10 years.
That covers standards and curriculum. In terms of teaching methods, curriculum provides some influence over teaching methods (for instance, using science kits to teach science is a very different teaching method than using a science textbook). However, for the most part teaching methods are left up to the teacher. Teaching whole group versus using small groups, letting students do hands-on learning versus everything paper-pencil, using the arts to teach through music, movement, and visuals—these are all methods that come mostly from the teacher. Schools and districts provide professional development and attempt to sway teachers to using particular methods, and sometimes these take hold. Curriculum can influence methods as well. Ultimately, the methods teachers use depend on what they are comfortable using.
I cover all three even though the question only asks about curriculum because I know that often people outside of education lump all of these ideas (standards, curriculum, and teaching methods) into one idea called curriculum, but they are not the same.