The first step a curriculum leader needs to take is to decide whether the curriculum meets state and national standards. Education departments set out broad frameworks of requirements. These have official, legal status that must be respected. Any curriculum leader needs to pay heed to the stipulated components, statutory structure or prescribed elements set down by governmental bodies. A rigorously written curriculum will make it abundantly clear how it meets the appropriate requirements. A curriculum leader should ensure this.
A curriculum should be inclusive so as to offer equality of opportunity. In other words, it should offer something for all learners, regardless of gender, race or intellectual capacity. According to "Inclusive Education: International Policy & Practice," by Ann Cheryl Armstrong, et al., and many other commentators, modern thinking about education, at least in the Western world, is that all students are capable of achieving.
The next step a curriculum leader should take is to establish whether or not the curriculum is well-rounded. Such a curriculum is one that offers a broad range of disciplines and activities at several levels. This ensures it will engage a wide range of students, while supporting their many individual learning styles. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan spoke of the need for a well-rounded curriculum at the Arts Education Partnership National Forum in April 2010.
The arts, humanities and foreign languages are sometimes squeezed between "weightier" subjects like math, English and science, creating an almost two-tier curriculum.
Duncan, in his speech to the Arts Education Partnership, said he, President Obama and the First Lady believed the arts, humanities and languages should not be merely "ornamental offerings" but vital parts of the curriculum. As a curriculum leader, look to provide a well-balanced set of courses that values both the sciences and the arts.