31 6.1 The Purpose of Curriculum

What is the importance of curriculum? Answers will vary. According to the United States Department of Education, the purpose of having a curriculum is to provide teachers with an outline for what should be taught in classrooms(https://www.ed.gov/k-12reforms/standards). The United States Department of Education wants to ensure that students are exposed to rigorous curricular goals to ensure that students are prepared for real-world experiences to make students college and career-ready.

At the state level, the Illinois Department of Education (ISBE) has the responsibility to create standards that reflect what students should know as a result of instruction delivered by trained educators (https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Learning-Standards.aspx). Teachers in Illinois have curricula they must follow to meet standards passed into law and adopted by the ISBE. ISBE has adopted curricular support for educators by making resources available to assist local school districts developing and implementing local curricula.