How to Plan a Proposal for a School Curriculum
The school building is new and the student body is focused on learning, but without a curriculum in place, learning is hit-or-miss and depends on the quality of individual teachers and the ability, and free time, they have to create a yearlong instructional plan. Once a student advances grades, it is important that the curriculum provide "scaffolding" (bridges with strong basic supports) to reinforce the learning from the previous year, as well as an opportunity to build on that knowledge during the new school year. Writing a coordinated school curriculum is the joint responsibility of the teaching staff, administration, parents, student body and community. To organize these diverse groups, a plan is required.
Things You'll Need
- Federal and state subject area curricular requirements
- Standards and frameworks from professional subject area organizations
- Contact information for volunteers
- Organizational website created for the curriculum plan
Instructions
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1
Create lists of volunteers from among the parents, students, staff, teachers, community and administration. Collect contact information that includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and the best times to reach each individual. Identify any connections between names, for example, siblings, parents or spouses.
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2
Collect content area frameworks, guidelines and area checklists (see Resources). Duplicate one master set for each subject area group and one set for each team leader who is selected in the step below.
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3
Create a website for the curriculum plan that includes a bulletin board for updates, separate content area chat rooms (according to the curriculum to be written), separate chat rooms for each planning group (such as parents or students), links to curriculum standard websites and an official update page. Search the Internet using the search terms "curriculum plan" and "accreditation" with your state or nearby cities. This will bring up websites for any schools in the area that have recently undergone school curriculum revisions.
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4
Identify motivated volunteers and ask the group to volunteer as subject area leaders for curriculum meetings. Select at least two leaders for each area of the curriculum to be covered.
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Use the information in Step 3 to identify other local schools that have undergone recent curriculum review. If the results do not indicate schools nearby, contact the national accreditation review committee for this information (see Tips). Request an opportunity for two members of each group to meet with parallel membership at the school to discuss the process. If any of the volunteer groups were not involved in the planning at the other school, include the volunteers in the most appropriate meeting. Do not exclude any volunteers.
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6
Send teams of a teacher, a community member, a parent, an administrator, and a student to curriculum writing training sessions offered by area accreditation associations, colleges or professional education organizations.
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7
Ask each individual to make a list of issues about the curriculum areas.
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8
Ask each group to meet as a separate body to discuss the issues that are mentioned on individual brainstorming lists.
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Ask all groups to come together in a general meeting to discuss their findings. Find areas of common ground to make up a general planning agenda.
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Tips & Warnings
There are six regional accrediting associations: the New England Association, the North Central Association, the Middle States Association, the Southern Association, the Western Association and the Northwest Association. Contact any state's Department of Education to determine the agency in charge of reviewing school curriculum for the area. Ask to examine curriculum plans from Blue Ribbon Schools in the area. Schools are required to allow the public to examine the curriculum and course content. These plans will provide starting points for writing new curriculum.
