4230

CURRICULUM ADOPTION

The Board of Education will rely on its professional administrators and instructional staff to design and implement instructional programs, courses of study and curricula that will forward the educational goals of the school district.

All instructional programs, course offerings and curricula will be reviewed by the Superintendent of Schools, who will make recommendations regarding their adoption to the Board. Final adoption shall be at the Board’s discretion. All courses shall meet or exceed guidelines established by the State Education Department.

Criteria by which the Board will judge the acceptability of new or revised programs, course offerings and curricula include, but shall not be limited to the following:

            1.     Does it have direct relevance to the educational goals of the district?

            2.     Have the learner outcomes of the course been clearly specified?

            3.     Has it been thoroughly studied and/or tested by staff?

            4.     Has a curriculum guide been completed?

            5.     Has the associated textbook(s) been adopted by the Board?

            6.     Have the costs of implementation been reviewed?

            7.     If the proposed course replaces an existing program, has it been shown what defect in the previous
                    program it is designed to overcome?

            8.     Is there a clear and reasonable plan for both student and program evaluation built into the proposal?

            9.     Has a copy of the state approval been included for high school credit bearing courses?

All curriculum changes must be brought before the Board of Education before being implemented.

Cross-ref 4400, Instructional Arrangements

Ref: Education Law §1709; 1711; 1804

Adoption date: January 1, 1993

Reviewed on:    October 29, 2002