Every June, arts teachers and teacher-leaders make the same promise: this is the summer they will finally update the curriculum. Not just update a unit or swap out an assignment, but do the real work.
Usually the vision involves some sort of alignment with current standards and bringing in the teachers who've been living with the old version for years.
And then August arrives, and the curricular document at the end looks almost exactly like it did in June.
I’ve seen this consistently within my own districts and with the districts that hire me to come in and assist in the process. It’s so common that it’s something I immediately look for when I get the chance to do this work with colleagues in other schools.
It’s not really anyone’s fault, but the process does need to be revamped so schools can get off the curriculum revision hamster wheel.
The Trap Most Teams Fall Into
The most common thing that derails summer curriculum work: teams try to revise everything at once. A full preK–12 scope and sequence, every grade level, every standard, every medium. And because the ambition is real, no one wants to be the person who says the plan is too big.
But trust me. It is. It’s far too much to accomplish in a couple of dedicated days over the summer break, for a whole host of reasons.
Curriculum revision isn't one task. It's a sequence of four distinct phases, and each one requires a different mode of thinking. When teams skip the structure and jump straight into writing, the work stalls. Every time.
I boil these phases down below.
But before you dig into that, there is one key piece of information that dramatically impacts how the process goes: Curricular work is people work.
Whenever people are involved, so, too, are the big feelings, emotions, philosophies of teaching and learning, etc., that come along with it.
There are also different conceptions about what curriculum actually is.
The declaration that you’ll be “revising the district-wide curriculum” this summer will bring about different ideas of what that means and what that looks like for different people on your team.
And it’s important that time and space to work through all of that is purposefully embedded during each phase.
This is one reason why doing the work takes much longer than anticipated. And it’s a completely normal part of the process, so be sure to plan for it.
Phase 1: The Audit
Before you touch a single learning objective, you need to look honestly at what exists and what's working. This is the diagnostic phase. It requires actual data and teacher input, and it requires everyone involved to discuss problems plainly, including the units teachers have been rewriting in their heads every September for the past four years.
Transparency is key here. Be honest, be open, and consider everyone’s lens.
Phase 2: Alignment
Here you compare what you have against your current standards, district priorities, and students' actual learning needs. This is where real gaps surface, not just the ones you suspected, but the ones the evidence confirms.
Phase 3: The Writing
This is the phase most arts teams try to start with. That's exactly why so many revision cycles go sideways. You can't write your way to a better curriculum if you haven't diagnosed what's wrong with the current one (or discovered what’s actually going well!). Write based on what the audit and alignment revealed. Not before.
Phase 4: Review
Give teachers, administrators, and ideally students or families a chance to respond to the draft before it's finalized. Skip this phase and you'll send teachers into classrooms with a document they had no hand in shaping. Adoption will be slow, and you'll feel it all year.
Each phase depends on the one before it. That sequence is very important. It's just the minimum structure that makes the work actually work.
One Question That Can Help Steer the Ship
If you’re involved in revising curriculum this summer, consider the following question (also - bring this to your team so they can weigh in as well!):
What is the one thing that most needs to change this summer, and why does it matter right now?
Not five things. One.
That question becomes your filter for every decision across all four phases. It gives the team a definition of "done" that's reachable before school starts. And it keeps the work from drifting, because you've decided what you're solving for before anyone opens a curriculum document.
Maybe your assessment language no longer reflects how students actually demonstrate learning. Maybe one grade band has been out of alignment with state standards since the last major update. Maybe your curriculum has never reflected the cultural communities your students come from, and this is the summer that changes.
Whatever it is, write it down. Let it guide every phase.
Then, when that’s all settled, and you’ve had the time to create something that reflects the agreed-upon goal, reset, and do it again. You’ll be glad that you’re pacing yourself.
Happy revising!
