An Analysis of Course Requirements and Action Plans within Doctoral Curriculum Departments

Abstract

There is a paucity of research concerning the knowledge base requirements for curriculum specialists enrolled in programs of professional preparation. However, curriculum specialists are frequently responsible for planning, implementing, and evaluating the curriculum. Understanding the relationship between the relevance of what is taught in higher education curriculum programs and school-based curriculum processes can be explored in part by assessing the relationship between course requirements in doctoral curriculum departments. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of correspondence within course requirements among curriculum departments in the United States and to assess what steps are being taken to ensure that curriculum specialists are being trained to meet the challenges associated with increasingly diverse student populations. A summary of the course requirements in curriculum programs and an analysis of the thematic content of action plans that universities had written is reported. Overall, the findings suggest that there is little evidence to support the existence of a core of courses that characterize doctoral programs.