Curriculum Inspection is Missing in Some American Schools — and that’s a big problem

Every school has been through an inspection. These inspections cover a variety of topics, from student performance to the financial management. They are meant to identify successful practices of the school along with areas of improvement. These inspections happen on a recurring schedule. The global average for the length of time between mandatory school inspections is 3.27 years.

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Amongst the items covered in a typical inspection are the degree to which curriculum aligns to state standards, and a measurement of the overall quality of the curriculum. The overall quality of the curriculum is determined by the country’s government, and assessment of it does not necessarily reflect the quality of the curriculum on an international scale.

Amongst OECD countries, 71% of these countries always inspect schools to ensure that curriculum aligns to standards, by some government body. Only 61% always inspect the quality of the curriculum, with 57% of countries inspecting both items in their school inspections. Other countries will measure these criteria sometimes, or not at all.

In the United States, the quality of curriculum and the curriculum alignment with established standards are only sometimes inspected. Inspections in the United States occur more often than in other parts of the world — once a year — but other factors are often given priority in these inspections.

It is important to note that the fact that curriculum inspection is not directly related to curriculum review. Curriculum may still be reviewed and updated even though it is not being inspected. However, given that school inspections are part of both the accountability system and the accreditation process in the US, curriculum is an important factor that should be considered.

Why isn’t the quality of curriculum and its alignment to standards being inspected?

Debates around the benefits and harm of accountability policies have been common since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Despite criticism, some form of accountability for publicly-funded education is required to safeguard school and teaching quality and equitable treatment of students. This is important for serving the public interest.

There are two obvious factors into why school inspections do not focus heavily on the curriculum — cost and time. Adding additional items to the inspection process will make them take longer and therefore be more costly.

A more specific issue is that the U.S. test-based accountability model holds schools and teachers accountable for student outcome. However there is little attention to school improvement processes. Schools in Europe use more school-centered accountability measures instead. This involves school self-evaluation followed by inspection to examine school quality.

Why should the curriculum in schools be inspected?

Inspections reveal critical information about the quality of schools, their performance in key aspects of their work, and the performance of private schools offering different curricula. Rather than thinking about inspections as a necessary evil, school administrators should consider inspections an opportunity to fundamentally improve the quality of education at their institution.

Long-lasting changes in instruction and student achievement can only be developed if the curriculum is reviewed to determine the best instructional practices. Inspections provide a government mandated reason for schools to improve in specific areas in which they struggle. Results of inspections can also be made accessible by the public, increasing the amount of communication with parents about the curriculum being taught.

States and national standards are directly tied to accountability measures. Many countries have realized this and will always assess whether curriculum is aligned with standards, but this level of accountability is missing in the US. Federal and state leaders have spent large amounts of time and energy painstakingly identifying what and when students should learn something. It seems like all this effort will go to waste if there is no effort to ensure that these standards are being covered in each school’s curriculum.

Given the significant focus on common core standards in recent years, the government should make a point to ensure that adherence to these standards is upheld. These yearly inspections should also focus on the curriculum being presented to students in the school.

How can schools improve their curriculum?

Regardless of whether or not they are being inspected, schools should be continually improving their curriculum to develop best practices and improve on their weaknesses. Schools should also be sharing this information with everyone involved, including teachers, students, and parents.

Good curriculum is reviewed on an ongoing basis. What is taught and assessed is clearly articulated to all stakeholders and options for differentiated learning are identified and clearly outlined. The skills that students should leave the course with are clearly described and assessments are directly linked to these skills.

Best practices for reviewing curriculum include:

1. Give all stakeholders a view of the curriculum
2. Identify redundancies and gaps in your curriculum
3. Track and report on your different teaching points
4. Demonstrate that your curriculum covers appropriate standards
5. Use curriculum management software to reduce the time spent entering curriculum inventory data
6. Integrate curriculum mapping with daily activities to create living documents

Although school inspections can be stressful, they positively impact the school by identifying areas of weakness, and contribute to advancing education by sharing best practices with other schools. Good curriculum is crucial for students to obtain the best education possible. This should be considered along with other factors during school inspections, but schools should also continue to make an effort to review their curriculum regardless of inspections.

Chalk.com’s platform puts curriculum into a collaborative environment to create living documents. Get started for as little as $99 per year.

Are you interested in adding curriculum mapping to your school? Our new guide gives you tips and tricks for getting started.