The formal evaluation of a course or educational program to address the changing needs of employers and students is known as curriculum alignment. A curriculum is a list of educational objectives, skills, and materials that must be covered and completed during a training program. Teachers, educational advisers, and program coordinators create the curriculum.
A consultative process is used to achieve curriculum alignment. Before a proposed course can be implemented, it must pass multiple reviews and be approved by a number of educators and committees. A new course must be designed, reviewed, approved, and then structured to meet these requirements before it can be implemented.
For elementary and secondary courses, the process of designing a new course usually begins at the department of education. Professors develop courses at the post-secondary level, sometimes in response to new developments and, on occasion, in response to requests from the provost, who is responsible for the institution’s educational performance.
Course designers and curriculum advisers are employed by the Department of Education. Based on the subject matter, prerequisite knowledge, and overall educational goals, they are in charge of determining the course’s focus and appropriate level. A botany course focusing on how seeds grow into plants, for example, could be aimed at elementary school students. The course designer must then decide on the evaluation matrix to be used, as well as the textbook or resource materials to be used, and how this course will fit into the overall curriculum or program of study.
The course outline or syllabus is then given to the educational consultants to complete curriculum alignment after this information has been reviewed and completed. The course goals and outline are compared to skill sets, educational expectations, prerequisites, and other courses during this process. The goals of this review are to ensure that all courses fit into a larger educational plan, to reduce course material duplication, and to confirm that course objectives align with employer needs and subsequent course offerings.
In addition to new courses, all existing courses are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that they are all aligned with the curriculum. The purpose of the review is to ensure that the course is still relevant by updating course materials, reviewing new resources and textbooks, and ensuring that the course is still relevant. The complexity of the process for existing courses varies depending on the subject area and level of education. A numeracy course in elementary school, for example, does not usually change over time. A high school sociology course, on the other hand, needs to be updated to reflect natural cultural changes over time.