THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

Curriculum Committee

The Curriculum Committee of the School of Education proposes the following Resolution on Curriculum Standards and Policy:

Faculty Responsibility for Curriculum

Under the By-laws of the City University of New York, curriculum policy is the responsibility of the faculty. In order to insure the highest standards of academic quality in the curriculum development process and all curriculum items to be voted on by the School of Education faculty, we charge the SOE Curriculum Committee to implement the following policies and standards in its review of all curriculum proposals.

General Policy

• The School of Education seeks a diversity of educational and philosophical viewpoints in its curriculum. The necessary coherence of Program curricula should not be interpreted as requiring that a single viewpoint be adopted in all courses within a program.
• The role of the SOE Curriculum Committee should be to assist Programs in meeting the highest standards of academic quality in their curriculum proposals and to insure that all proposals conform to published CUNY and Brooklyn College regulations and meet the specific curricular process and quality standards established by the SOE faculty.
• The curriculum development process within Programs shall be open to participation by all affiliated faculty, with final decisions made by majority vote of the full-time faculty who have their primary affiliation with that Program. The views of part-time faculty and full-time faculty with a secondary affiliation in the Program shall be solicited as part of the curriculum development process, as well as the views of other members of the College and Brooklyn schools communities, as appropriate.
• Students who have completed or are in the last year of a Program should be consulted by Program faculty in all cases of proposed major curriculum changes.
• The SOE curriculum committee shall facilitate consultations and collaborations among Programs and with other interested faculty to produce curriculum proposals that articulate across Program lines and certification categories, where appropriate. Such proposals may be formally sponsored by one or more Programs, or by ad hoc faculty committees, if this procedure is recommended by the SOE curriculum committee.

Curriculum Development Standards

All proposals for new or substantially revised courses and new programs shall:

• Identify the intended student population and the needs which will be addressed
• Respond to current professional concerns in urban education (e.g. level of professional teaching skills; teacher writing and communication skills; ability to work with mainstreamed students with special needs and linguistically and culturally diverse students; use of general and specialized knowledge of the liberal arts and sciences; etc.)
• Make independent professional judgments in response to New York City, New York State, and other standards for elementary and secondary education, as well as New York State standards for teacher education programs
• Provide information relevant to each of the following points proportionately to the significance of the curriculum change proposed:
• Justify the content and approach of courses in relation to the relevant current research literature in Education and related disciplines
• Take into account the form and content of courses or programs with similar goals offered at other respected institutions of higher education
• Situate each course in the context of its functions in the Program and relations to other courses
• Take into account the needs of other Programs and other SOE students (e.g. the possibility of joint or shared courses)

 

Revised Draft
J Lemke, 2/1/99