ANSWERS: 1
  • Public school curricula across the United States are as varied as the geography of the nation. Most public school curriculum choices are made at the state level and based on a state course of study. However, a number of curriculum decisions happen right in your own backyard.

    State

    To receive federal funds, states must have a standard curriculum or course of study implemented in public schools. Under the state curriculum, students should be able to do certain activities, like use multiple sources for research, by a given grade. However, curricula and student benchmarks vary from state to state. So, the grade in which a student first learns an activity, such as cursive writing, may occur in the second grade in one state and the third grade in another.

    Local Board of Education

    Further curriculum modification, such as what is offered in each school, is usually decided by the local board of education or school board. Typical decisions made on the local level may include the number of classes available at each school and which schools offer technical versus academic courses of study.

    School

    When classes are offered and the types of electives available are typically decided at the school itself. In most cases, curriculum plans provided by a teacher must be approved by the principal or vice principal.

    Teachers

    To some extent, a teacher chooses specific materials and the time of year a particular part of a subject is taught. The state or school board may say English literature must be taught, but a teacher often decides which poems are studied.

    Federal Regulations

    Although federal law says that each state must have a state curriculum, as of January 2010 there is no national standard curriculum in the United States.

    Source:

    U.S. Department of Education: Stronger Accountability

    North Carolina Standard Course of Study

    Cincinnati Public School District

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