School Curriculum Basics

Created by FindLaw's team of legal writers and editors | Last reviewed June 20, 2016

School curriculum refers to a particular set of courses that a school or governing body designates, but may also refer to a variety of activities designed to foster education and meet the needs of a learning community. Whether you are a student seeking to understand your curriculum options, or a teacher looking to create curriculum standards, this section provides information and resources to help you understand the legal perspective of setting a strong curriculum. Select from the list of titles below to learn more.

Curriculum Decisionmaking

Each school district has its own process for developing curriculums. However, the curriculums increasingly subject school administrators and boards of education to scrutiny and criticism from parents and organizations that have their own idea of what should be part of the school curriculum. Beyond agreeing that schools should teach students the basics of reading, writing, math, history, science, and citizenship; there is very little agreement about what should be included in school curricula.

School boards must design a curriculum that furthers "legitimate pedagogical concerns;" though this term is rarely defined with any specificity. School boards are frequently left to determine for themselves what this means. State and federal authorities may provide guidance and frequently have better resources to research and develop the most effective policies on the behalf of schools. Although a universal definition has not been developed for "legitimate pedagogical concerns," courts have given some indication what activities would fall outside the definition. Examples of curriculum items that would be prohibited include material that includes;

political advocacy
bias or prejudice
lack of neutrality in religious matters
sexually harassing speech
vulgarity, profanity, nudity, sexuality, drug use, violence, or other inappropriate themes

National School Curriculum Standards

Determinations about students' curriculums have traditionally been made by local governments. This permitted communities some flexibility in teaching the skills necessary to succeed in the local society and economy. However, there is a growing trend toward the standardization of primary and secondary school education. At present, there is no national curriculum that all school districts are required to teach. However, independent organizations have created model curricula that school districts may choose to incorporate. These "voluntary standards" exist for mathematics, science, language arts, fine arts, social science, technology, and physical education.

Advanced Placement (AP) classes are slightly more standardized. All AP students must pass the same AP test upon completion of an AP course in order to earn college credit for their work. AP course teachers receive a recommended syllabus intended to help students meet these goals, but they are not required to teach everything on the syllabus. Instead they may choose to implement or disregard the details of the recommended syllabus, depending on what they think will best meet their students' educational goals.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a nationally administered test that is known as the "Nation's Report Card." The National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) administers the NAEP to schools throughout the U.S. in order to obtain a representative sampling of the nation's student body. NCES doesn't require a particular curriculum, but the results may provide insight into the effectiveness of a school district's educational system.

Curriculum Decisionmaking

How and what an educator teaches students are important determinations. Indeed, decisions about a school's curriculum must be based upon legitimate pedagogical concerns. At times such concerns have included teaching material and/or classroom expression. Click here to learn more.
Curriculum and Ideology

Free speech and school curriculum don’t always align perfectly. In fact, schools in different parts of the country may have quite different curriculum to reflect each region's culture. But there is some oversight to prevent highly opinionated content in public schools.
Who Has Educational Authority?

The federal government does not determine what level of schooling students must achieve. Instead, implementing standards for students' performance is left to state and local authorities and to some extent with parents. Click here to read more.

Curriculum - General Background Information

From a legal perspective, curriculum issues focus on two areas: 1) the range of courses or instructional programs available to students; and 2) the aggregate of activities, materials, procedures, and instructional aids used in the instructional program.
National School Curriculum Standards

There has been a national trend toward establishing a set of national curriculum standards for education. So far, there are voluntary national standards for math, science, and history. There are standards being developed for other subjects as well.
National Education Curriculum Goals

The National Education Goals were established in 1989 and 1994. The goals created a framework for improving student achievement and refocusing the objectives of education. At the same time, the goals left specific tactics to state and local governments and to schools.