According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000),

“A curriculum is more than a collection of activities: it must be coherent, focused on important mathematics, and well articulated across the grades.  A school mathematics curriculum is a strong determinant of what students have an opportunity to learn and what they do learn.  In a coherent curriculum, mathematical ideas are linked to and build on one another so that students’ understanding and knowledge deepens and their ability to apply mathematics expands.  An effective mathematics curriculum focuses on important mathematics – mathematics that will prepare students for continued study and for solving problems in a variety of school, home, and work settings.  A well-articulated curriculum challenges students to learn mathematical ideas as they continue their studies.”

This is a powerful definition of curriculum that could be applied to any content area.  As a K-12 curriculum developer, I am always humbled by the term opportunity to learn.  If curriculum development plays an important role in determining what students will learn at each grade level and impacts an individual’s opportunity to learn, then we must increase our efforts to develop quality curriculum, communicate about the curriculum, assess the curriculum, and make certain that our efforts do not result in a three-ring binder which is placed on the bookshelf in each teacher’s classroom. 

What is your definition of curriculum?  Does your school have a common definition?  What are the benefits of having a common starting point when defining and developing curriculum?

 


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