The Curriculum Development Process: A Step-by-Step Guide
Explore the curriculum development process step-by-step and how it works in real-world curriculum development roles. A guide for educators exploring this exciting field.
Have you ever looked into curriculum development as a career path and thought, “Wait… isn’t this basically what I already do?”
This is one of the main reasons teachers (and former teachers) are drawn to curriculum development. It aligns with educators’ passion, offers flexibility, and allows you to make a wider impact in education beyond the classroom.
At Educator Forever Agency, we actively work in this field, creating engaging learning experiences used by thousands of students and educators across the world.
When it comes to a career in curriculum development, your teaching and lesson planning experience is the best foundation. But there are still key foundational skills and research that will help you create truly impactful curriculum.
In the classroom, you’re planning for your students. In curriculum development, you’re designing for thousands of teachers and students you’ll never meet.
So what does curriculum development look like in the real world, and how does this work compare to what you already do as a teacher?
Understanding the curriculum development process is a key first step in exploring this field. In this blog, we’ll break down the process of curriculum development step-by-step so you can see exactly how it works.
What Is the Process of Curriculum Development?
At its core, the curriculum development process is about designing meaningful learning experiences with intention. It is also about teaching teachers and making their lives easier by giving them high-quality materials to start with. The process is a structured approach to designing, implementing, and improving learning experiences.
It looks at the bigger picture:
What should learners achieve, and what do they actually need?
Why is this learning important both within and beyond the classroom?
How should learning be structured?
How do we assess understanding?
The ultimate goal is to develop high-quality learning experiences that support teachers to help students unlock their potential and achieve learning outcomes.
What are the steps in the curriculum development process?
You can think of the curriculum development process as a cycle. The process typically includes six steps:
Identifying what should be taught and why
Defining objectives
Designing the learning experience with intention
Developing materials
Implementing the curriculum
Evaluating its effectiveness
At a glance, this may sound similar to lesson planning, but curriculum development involves designing at scale (at a broader, more systemic level).
Keep in mind that while these steps are often presented in order, the curriculum development process isn’t strictly linear. Curriculum developers frequently move back and forth between stages to refine and improve the learning experience.
The 6 Stages in the Process of Curriculum Development
Let’s break down what this actually looks like in practice, and explore which steps of the curriculum development process might feel familiar (or not) to an educator.
Step 1: Identifying What Should Be Taught and Why
Every curriculum starts with a problem to solve. This first step involves understanding:
Who the learners are
What they need to know or be able to do
Why this learning is important
Where gaps might currently exist
Defining who the learners are involves considering the grade level/age range you are writing for. Consult standards and grade-level expectations to figure out what they need to know or be able to do.
Think big about why that learning is important both within and beyond the classroom to make sure your curriculum is relevant and engaging.
Step 2: Defining Learning Objectives
Once the learning needs are clear, the next step is defining what success looks like.
As a curriculum developer, you’re answering the question: What should learners be able to do, apply, and understand?
If you’ve ever written “I can” / “I will be able to” statements or aligned lessons to standards, you already have some experience here.
But the shift is in how those objectives are used. In curriculum development, the learning objectives are often tied to:
a defined progression of what students will be learning throughout a sequence of lessons
real-world skills
authentic assessments
Clear learning objectives will guide every decision that follows.
Step 3: Designing the Learning Experience with Intention
In this step, you’re designing how learning happens, and the structure of the curriculum takes shape.
This can include organizing content into units, sequencing learning logically, and choosing instructional approaches and frameworks. This is where a strong knowledge of research and pedagogy comes in.
At this step, as a curriculum developer, you’re asking: How should this learning experience actually work, for a wide range of learners?
This involves making intentional decisions like:
How learners will engage with content
What formats will be used
What tools or platforms are needed
How they will demonstrate understanding
Which frameworks and approaches will be used
Strong curriculum developers lean on proven, research-backed frameworks and approaches. This could include using approaches such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and integrating strategies like scaffolding and differentiation.
At this stage, curriculum developers also consider questions like:
Are there built-in supports for learners at different levels?
Can learners access content in multiple ways?
Are there different ways for learners to demonstrate understanding?
Is the content culturally relevant and inclusive?
Are there any potential bias or sensitivity issues?
Is this curriculum engaging and relevant to learners?
For teachers, this likely feels very familiar. The difference is that curriculum developers make these decisions at a systems level, so they work for a wide range of learners, not just one classroom.
Effective curriculum is learner-centered, so it’s important to design learning experiences that are appropriately challenging, engaging, interactive, and aligned with how students actually learn.
Curriculum developers think carefully about the steps to take to guide learners to build understanding and apply their learning.
Step 4: Developing Curriculum Materials
In this step, you’re taking the how, the why, and the structure you’ve designed and turning it into actual materials.
It’s important to get clear on what type of lesson plan framework, approaches, and strategies you will use to support understanding.
This step might include creating:
lesson plans
unit plans
assessments
worksheets or practice activities
digital learning modules
games or interactive experiences
resources for families or caregivers
slide decks and resources
scripts or guided instruction materials
And in many roles, this is often collaborative work. You might be working alongside subject matter experts, designers, program leaders, or project managers.
Usually, there’s revision, iteration, and feedback involved as well.
Step 5: Implementing the Curriculum
Once everything is developed, the curriculum is put into action. This might involve training educators, launching a program, or publishing materials on a learning platform.
Rather than delivering instruction directly to learners, in curriculum development, this step is about making sure educators are adequately supported to implement it.
Step 6: Evaluating and Improving the Curriculum
Curriculum development is an ongoing process, and evaluation is important. The step involves looking at learner outcomes, feedback, engagement, and alignment with goals.
Based on what is found, the curriculum is revised and improved. The goal is to refine and improve the learners’ experience over time (often across thousands or millions of learners).
In many cases, insights from this stage send curriculum developers back to earlier steps to refine, redesign, or restructure the learning experience.
Curriculum Development vs Teaching: What’s Different?
While there’s clear overlap with teaching and curriculum development, the day-to-day experience is quite different.
Teaching is about:
planning lessons and delivering instruction
engaging and connecting directly with learners
adapting in real time and supporting students’ individual learning outcomes
Curriculum development is about:
designing learning experiences behind the scenes
thinking at a systems level
strategically using research
improving learning outcomes at scale
Explore more about what it’s like to be a curriculum developer in our guide: What Does a Curriculum Developer Do? A Day in the Life of a Curriculum Developer
Career Paths in Curriculum Development
Curriculum development is a career path that allows you to use your creativity, increase your income, and enjoy more flexibility. This pathway often allows you to work remotely and opens countless opportunities.
As a curriculum developer, you can take on freelance/contract, part-time, or full-time roles with textbook companies, EdTech product developers, nonprofit organizations, school districts, museums, cultural institutions, children’s media outlets, educational agencies, and more.
Explore more in our guides on 7 Exciting Curriculum Development Careers and How to Become a Curriculum Developer.
Interested in becoming a curriculum developer?
Does seeing the process of curriculum development make you think, “I could actually see myself doing this”?
Your teaching background is valuable, but employers want to see that you can translate that experience into full-scale curriculum design.
Educator Forever’s 5-week Curriculum Development Foundations Program gives you everything you need to become a successful curriculum developer and land curriculum development jobs.
This program mirrors real curriculum development roles, which is incredibly valuable to employers. Graduates of this 5-week program have gone on to work remotely for ed tech companies, education nonprofits, curriculum agencies, textbook publishers, museums, and more.
Many teachers who already have master’s degrees (including in Curriculum & Instruction) enroll in this program because they benefit from new curriculum development skills, a strong portfolio, and the real-world experience needed to land jobs.
In just 5 weeks, you’ll:
✅ Master PreK-12 curriculum development skills (including using research, frameworks, and pedagogy)
✅ Build a standout portfolio of curriculum projects that impresses employers
✅ Gain real-world experience in a supportive environment
✅ Receive personalized coaching and expert feedback
✅ Learn exactly how to find and land curriculum development opportunities
✅ Earn certification and optional graduate-level continuing education credits
Sign up now to kickstart an exciting new career chapter (part-time or full-time) in curriculum development!.
FAQs about the Curriculum Development Process
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The curriculum development process is a structured method for designing, implementing, and evaluating learning experiences to achieve specific outcomes.
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The main steps include identifying learning needs, defining objectives, designing the learning experience, developing materials, implementing the curriculum, and evaluating its effectiveness.
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While lesson planning and teaching focus on creating and delivering instruction directly to learners, curriculum development focuses on designing and improving learning experiences at scale.
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Teachers can become curriculum developers working with EdTech companies, nonprofit organizations, curriculum houses, textbook companies, school districts, museums, cultural institutions, education agencies, and more. Roles may be freelance, contract, part-time, or full-time.
Get everything you need to go from teacher to curriculum developer in the Curriculum Development Foundations Program.