Creating an Engaged Partnership between K-12 Education and Higher Education in Curriculum Development for Secondary Schools

For years, state departments of education have reached out to the higher education world for support in the development of curriculum for secondary schools. However, these relationships may not have risen to the level of an engaged partnership across faculty, institutions and systems that intentionally seeks to achieve broader population goals in terms of college readiness within a state or region.

There are many variations on what the relationship across K-12 education and higher education might be, but here are two hypothetical alternatives to help illustrate the type of relationship that is needed.

Version A

The state department of education engages curriculum consultants to provide expertise and manage a process to engage others in curriculum development. Representatives from institutions of higher education are invited to participate in the process. These representatives are drawn from leaders within the discipline, such as department chairs or officers of professional associations. There is no formal contact with institutional or system leadership and the faculty participants are presumed to be “speaking for” the higher education world.

Version B

The state department of education and their outside consultants work with the state department of higher education to engage the state’s higher education community across the full range of potential partners. This would include both content experts, faculty who teach developmental courses, faculty within the discipline at issue and institutional and system leaders. The institutional and system leaders involved fully recognize that they are participating as representatives of their organizations and not just as interested and knowledgeable individuals.

Key differences between versions A and B

Both versions will provide the curriculum developers with access to subject matter expertise. Version B is an intentional effort to go beyond the need for expertise and meet the following equally critical needs:

Increase curricular alignment across the disciplines as students move from high schools to colleges within the same state or region

Capture the knowledge of faculty working with students in developmental courses which are the frontline of our struggle with the challenge of college readiness

Engage campus and system leaders, as well as the state department of higher education, in order to involve those who are accountable to elected leaders for population level goals such as college readiness and educational attainment