What Does a Curriculum Director Do?
From a general perspective, a curriculum director is the school administrator responsible for overseeing the selection, development, and implementation of the curriculum at either the school district or school building level.
Based upon the title alone, curriculum is the primary focus of individuals serving in this particular role; however, under the broad umbrella of “curriculum,” the curriculum director most likely is the individual responsible for ongoing progress monitoring, state assessment coordination, faculty and staff professional, and in many cases, faculty evaluations. These responsibilities often fall within the purview of the curriculum director because of the fact that each one directly impacts the effectiveness and fidelity of the curriculum itself.
Curriculum Director Requirements: Skills
Self-Motivated and Visionary
Individuals interested in pursuing a career as a curriculum director should be self-motivated and visionary given the fact that the scope of their work often ranges from the primary grades through high school seniors. Developing and sharing a vision for the educational journey students within a school district or building will follow requires expert knowledge about how students learn and when their readiness levels are appropriate for learning specific concepts. Additionally, a curriculum director should be well-versed in educational research and have a solid background in the science of learning to evaluate curricular items and determine their effectiveness.
Progress Monitoring
Another skill necessary for curriculum directors is a mastery of progress monitoring approaches and programs. The only way to determine whether an established curriculum is effective is by routine progress monitoring.
Progress monitoring requires the curriculum director to be familiar with various benchmark assessments that can be employed across grade levels. Beyond simply scheduling these assessments, the curriculum director must possess a solid understanding of how to read, interpret, and analyze data to be able to make sense of the information revealed by benchmark assessments.
Communicating Benchmark Results
Perhaps the most critical component of this process is the ability to communicate benchmark results in a manner that is understood easily by teachers, students, and parents. Many people are not comfortable reading data charts and graphs; therefore, the curriculum director must break down these data sources in a manner that is easily understood in layperson’s terms.
Knowledge of State Standards
Curriculum directors must also know the state standards applicable to their particular school systems. In order to prepare students appropriately for state-mandated assessments, the curriculum must be aligned with state standards. As a result, curriculum directors must carefully review all of the material being taught within their districts or schools to ensure that educational content is aimed at helping students master the content required by the standards, thus preparing them for success on the state assessments.
Curriculum Director Requirements: Education
Unlike other educational leadership positions such as superintendent and principal, multiple pathways can lead to an individual becoming a curriculum director. The most direct route to becoming a curriculum director is for an individual to pursue a bachelor’s degree either in elementary or secondary education followed by a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction after five or more years as a classroom teacher.
Interestingly, however, one does not need a degree in curriculum and instruction to serve as a curriculum director. School districts have the ability to establish educational prerequisites for serving this role on an individual level. As a result, individuals who hold a valid principal certification also can serve as curriculum directors, and some individuals who do not hold administrative certifications also could qualify as curriculum directors provided that their school districts believe they have the experience and expertise necessary to oversee the responsibilities of the curriculum director role.
Although the route to becoming a curriculum director can be varied, best practice dictates that individuals seeking this position with their school system should take advantage of every possible opportunity to prepare themselves for success. Thus, following a more traditional route that includes graduate-level study within the curriculum and instruction field probably is considered the best way to position oneself for success as a curriculum director. With that stated, however, a multitude of curriculum directors currently serving are former building principals with educational leadership degrees who matriculated to district-level curriculum director roles, so this pathway to the position must be considered highly viable as well.
Why Should You Consider a Curriculum Director Position?
The reasons why you should consider becoming a curriculum director are many. If you are an educator who enjoys planning and designing content within your classroom and solving problems, why not consider doing so on a larger scale as the curriculum director for your school building or district?
Working as a curriculum director allows an individual to view their specific institution from a more global perspective that has the potential to impact a broad range of students positively and powerfully. A school truly is only as strong as its curriculum, so if you are a driven individual who enjoys the challenges of problem-solving, data analysis, and curriculum writing, this type of position likely will suit you quite well.
Additionally, if you are a veteran teacher who would like to move into an administrative role but prefer to avoid some of the challenges of the building principal role, serving as a director of curriculum will allow you to focus solely on academics as opposed to many of the other more public responsibilities of building principals such as student discipline, athletics, and extra-curricular activities.
Ultimately, curriculum directors have the power to create academically rich learning pathways for students making the role extremely important for student success and rewarding for those who serve in this capacity.
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