WHAT IS THE EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPERS?

Updated December 1, 2022 · 1 Min Read

The Bureau of Labor Statistics categorizes curriculum developers as instructional coordinators, reporting the median pay in 2016 to be approximately $62,460 per year; this equates to approximately $30 per hour. In terms of education, the general entry-level degree requirement for becoming a curriculum developer is a master's. Instructional coordinators are usually expected to have at ...

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics categorizes curriculum developers as instructional coordinators, reporting the median pay in 2016 to be approximately $62,460 per year; this equates to approximately $30 per hour. In terms of education, the general entry-level degree requirement for becoming a curriculum developer is a master's. Instructional coordinators are usually expected to have at least five years or more experience in either the curriculum development field specifically or a related occupation. There is very little if any training on the job for newcomers.

In 2014, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of curriculum development jobs was approximately 151,000. The BLS reports that by the year 2024, there should be an employment change of about 10,500 curriculum developer jobs. The projected job growth rate is approximately 7 percent, which is just about average.

Job Description

Curriculum developers generally work all year round at a wide variety of educational institutions, from elementary schools to universities. In all different settings, the key responsibility of the developer will be to manage the adjustment and sophistication of the school curriculum's design. The curriculum developer will see to it that teachers are adhering to the standards set forth by the philosophy of the institution. Based on what they are able to determine about the school's performance, curriculum developers may spearhead the creation of new initiatives to better meet performance standards and oversee the enactment of these changes.

Related: Top 15 Cheap Online Master's in Curriculum and Instruction Degree Programs

Curriculum developers may not always have the end-all solution for optimal curriculum design right away, but through constant reassessment, they are able to continually fine-tune their approach to bringing the school closer to its ideal performance level.

While there has been speculation about how the younger generation might come up with a different attitude towards the notion of college than those before it, there has still been a steady investment in updated teaching approaches. Teachers are committed to finding out what the best methods for educating students growing up in a new social sphere are, and in tandem with these efforts, skilled developers will be needed in order to see which approaches to teaching this new generation are the most actionable.

Curriculum developers not only focus on building a better framework for the students to learn from in all subject areas, but also working with teachers to enact more effective teaching methods to improve learning retention.

A Concentrated Effort To Improve

The basis for the expected increase in developer employment has been connected to a growing level of desire for accountability in schools regarding student performance in general. Beyond simply assessing different institutions for average test scores, many school administrators are now more interested in how their institutions can have a better impact on the lifelong prospects for all students.

As teachers have been investing in more innovative training methods, it is only natural that curriculum developers have grown more desired in greater numbers for a better chance at enacting up-and-coming developments in new age of teaching methodology.

Because the majority of developers are either local government or state employees, the localized growth of curriculum developers in cities across nation will vary. Ultimately, the funding of states that curriculum developers work in will be correlated with the expected growth of their numbers in said states.

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