Editing Curriculum (section)

===United States===
In the [[United States|U.S.]], each [[U.S. state|state]], with the individual [[school district]]s, establishes the curricula taught.<ref>[http://hnn.us/articles/22591.html National Education Standards...They're Back!] (article)</ref> Each state, however, builds its curriculum with great participation of national<ref>[http://www.brook.edu/press/books/NATLSTDS2.HTM Diane Ravitch, National Standards in American Education A Citizen's Guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828184152/http://www.brook.edu/press/books/NATLSTDS2.HTM |date=2008-08-28 }} (book)</ref> academic subject groups selected by the [[United States Department of Education]] such as the [[National Council of Teachers of Mathematics]] (NCTM) for mathematical instruction.

The [[Common Core State Standards Initiative]] (CCSSI) promulgates a core set of standards which are specific information and skills a student needs to know at each grade level in order to graduate. States may adopt these standards in part or whole and expand upon them. Schools and states (depending on how much control a state gives to its local schools) then develop their curriculum to meet each of these standards. This coordination is intended to make it possible to use more of the same textbooks across states, and to move toward a more uniform minimum level of education attainment.

According to the CCSSI, "[d]ecisions on how to implement the standards, including the right supports to put in place, are made at the state and local levels. As such, states and localities are taking different approaches to implementing the standards and providing their teachers with the supports they need to help students successfully reach the standards."<ref>[http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/frequently-asked-questions/ Common Core Frequently Asked Questions] (article)</ref>

====Higher education====
[[Image:E7331-MFTI-Glavny-Korpus-schedule.jpg|thumb|[[Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology]] student examines the university's main class schedule board on the first day of classes to find what classes he – and all students in his specialization (sub-major) – will attend this semester.]]
Many educational institutions are currently trying to balance two opposing forces. On the one hand, some believe students should have a common knowledge foundation, often in the form of a core curriculum whereas others want students to be able to pursue their own educational interests, often through early specialty in a major or through the free choice of courses. This tension has received a large amount of coverage due to [[Harvard University]]'s reorganization of its core requirements.<ref>{{cite web|title=Harvard Gazette: Discussing the Core Curriculum|url=http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/11.14/11-core.html|publisher=Harvard University|access-date=9 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703105329/http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/11.14/11-core.html|archive-date=3 July 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Harvard approves new general education curriculum|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/05/15/harvard_approves_new_general_education_curriculum/|access-date=9 February 2013 | work=The Boston Globe|date=15 May 2007}}</ref>

An essential feature of curriculum design, seen in every college catalog and at every other level of schooling, is the identification of prerequisites for each course.{{clarify|date=January 2021}} These prerequisites can be satisfied by taking particular courses, and in some cases by examination, or by other means, such as work experience. In general, more advanced courses in any subject require some foundation in basic courses, but some coursework requires study in other departments, as in the sequence of math classes required for a physics major, or the language requirements for students preparing in literature, music, or scientific research. A more detailed curriculum design must deal with prerequisites within a course for each topic taken up. This in turn leads to the problems of course organization and scheduling once the dependencies between topics are known.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

====Core curriculum====
{{See also|Core Curriculum (Columbia College)}}
{{anchor|Core curriculum}} <!--Ernest L. Boyer links here-->
[[File:Shimer IS 5 fall 1994 Sappho Bible.jpg|thumb|[[Shimer College]] students discussing texts in the school's core curriculum]]
At the [[undergraduate]] level, individual [[college]] and [[university]] administrations and faculties sometimes mandate core curricula, especially in the [[liberal arts]]. However, because of increasing specialization and depth in the student's major field of study, a typical core curriculum in [[higher education]] mandates a far smaller proportion of a student's course work than a [[high school]] or [[elementary school]] core curriculum prescribes.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Among the best known and most expansive core curricula programs at leading American colleges and universities are those of [[Core Curriculum (Columbia College)|Columbia University]] and the [[University of Chicago]]. Both can take up to two years to complete without [[advanced standing]], and are designed to foster critical skills in a broad range of academic disciplines, including the social sciences, humanities, physical and biological sciences, mathematics, writing and foreign languages.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

In 1999, the [[University of Chicago]] announced plans to reduce and modify the content of its core curriculum, including lowering the number of required courses from 21 to 15 and offering a wider range of content. When ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[The Economist]]'', and other major news outlets picked up this story, the university became the focal point of a national debate on education. A set of university administrators, notably then-President [[Hugo F. Sonnenschein]], argued that reducing the core curriculum had become both a financial and educational imperative, as the university was struggling to attract a commensurate volume of applicants to its undergraduate division compared to peer schools as a result of what was perceived by the pro-change camp as a reaction by "the average eighteen-year-old" to the expanse of the collegiate core.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Ethan|last1=Bronner|accessdate=2021-05-15|title=U. of Chicago President to Return to Teaching|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/05/us/u-of-chicago-president-to-return-to-teaching.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=5 June 1999|issn=0362-4331|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>

As core curricula began to diminish over the course of the twentieth century at many American schools, some smaller institutions became famous for embracing a core curriculum that covers nearly the student's entire undergraduate education, often utilizing classic texts of the [[western canon]] to teach all subjects including science. Five [[Great Books]] colleges in the United States follow this approach: [[St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe)|St. John's]], [[Shimer College|Shimer]], [[Thomas Aquinas College|Thomas Aquinas]], [[Gutenberg College]] and [[Thomas More College of Liberal Arts|Thomas More]].<ref name="smallcampus">{{cite news | title = Small Campus, Big Books | last = Johnson | first = Dirk | date = 2007-11-04 | newspaper = The New York Times |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/shimer.html | access-date = 2010-05-22}}</ref>

{{see also|Association for Core Texts and Courses}}

====Distribution requirements====
Some colleges opt for the middle ground of the continuum between specified and unspecified curricula by using a system of distribution requirements. In such a system, students are required to take courses in particular [[academic fields|fields of learning]], but are free to choose specific courses within those fields.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

====Open curriculum====
[[File:Brown's Open Curriculum banner.jpg|thumb|right|[[Brown University]] celebrated the 50th anniversary of their [[Open Curriculum (Brown University)|Open Curriculum]] in 2019.]]
Other institutions have largely done away with core requirements in their entirety. [[Brown University]] offers the [[Open Curriculum (Brown University)|"Open Curriculum"]], implemented after a student-led reform movement in 1969, which allows students to take courses without concern for any requirements except those in their chosen concentrations (majors), plus two writing courses. In this vein, it is possible for students to graduate without taking college-level science or math courses, or to take only science or math courses. [[Amherst College]] requires that students take one of a list of first-year seminars, but has no required classes or distribution requirements. Similarly, [[Grinnell College]] requires students to take a First-Year Tutorial in their first semester, and has no other class or distribution requirements. Others include [[Evergreen State College]], [[Hamilton College (New York)|Hamilton College]], and [[Smith College]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://openjar.org/curricular-freedom-examples-in-action |title=Examples in Action: Our List of Open Curriculum Colleges & Universities |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804043018/http://openjar.org/curricular-freedom-examples-in-action |archive-date=4 August 2012 |website=Open Jar Foundation |access-date=7 February 2014}}</ref>

[[Wesleyan University]] is another school that has not and does not require any set distribution of courses. However, Wesleyan does make clear "General Education Expectations" such that if a student does not meet these expectations, he/she would not be eligible for academic honors upon graduation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wesleyan.edu/registrar/academic_regulations/general_education_expectations.html |title=General Education Expectations, Registrar |website=Wesleyan University |access-date=7 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720205647/http://www.wesleyan.edu/registrar/academic_regulations/general_education_expectations.html |archive-date=20 July 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>