Role of the Principal in

Managing Curriculum
and Instruction

The Role of The Principal in Curriculum Implementation

Most of the attention in the curriculum

literature has been placed on curriculum
development with little attention given to
the implementation process.
The principal plays a major role
coordinating curriculum change in the
schools.
Communication between administrators,
supervisors, teachers and principals is
critical at the implementation stage.

Contd
Techniques such as pre-service
meetings, workshops, and bulletins help
facilitate communication needs.
The principal should have open
communication lines with all school
personnel. He should promote a strong
staff development program to allow
teachers the opportunity to successfully
incorporate the curriculum change.

Contd
The principal must also transmit the
interest and enthusiasm about the new
curriculum by encouraging and helping
faculty members on a daily basis.
The school Head/Principal is responsible
for the success of the implementation
process: without his direction the new
curriculum is often neglected (Virgilio,
Stephen & Irene, 1991)

Administrators Role in
Curriculum Improvement
The role and function of school-level
administrators in curriculum improvement is key
to curriculum implementation.
This emphasis rests on the belief that the school
is the logical unit for improvement in terms of
planning, implementing, studying, revising and
institutionalizing curriculum change.
It also builds from the understanding that the
contact between the curriculum and the student
takes place in classrooms and in schools.

Contd
Therefore, although the top level of
leadership (national, county, sub-county)
is important for thinking about policy,
providing support for curriculum
improvement, ensuring material support
for school-level work and monitoring the
process of school change, the work of
curriculum change is logically the work of
teachers and administrators in schools
and classrooms.

Role of Principal in Supervising Curriculum and Instruction

1. Prioritizing, Mapping and

Monitoring the Curriculum
School principals should keep their
curriculum on target by prioritizing,
mapping and monitoring the curriculum
and more deeply understanding what
they want students to learn, which
learning is most important and how to
know if the curriculum is being taught.

Contt
In the zeal to cover as much content as possible
and rush through the course materials, teachers
sometimes lose sight of which skills and
knowledge are most critical for all students to
master.
To improve student achievement, teachers must
prioritize and then focus on the most important
standards.
To truly have an impact, a prioritized curriculum
must clearly communicate exactly what each
standard means and how important it is.

Contd
Curriculum maps are like road maps
that communicate what a given
group of students has been learning,
what they are working on now and
where they are going.
Maps can help identify gaps between
what is essential and what is taught.

Contd
2. Designing Assessment to Improve
Student Learning
School principals should ensure that
teachers link curriculum, assessment and
instruction; effectively use assessment for
learning strategies to improve learning;
recognize good instruction; and use
effective, research-based instructional
strategies, tools and processes to
observe/study assessment and instruction.

Contd
3. Aligning Teacher Assignments and
Student Work to Rigorous
Standards
Schools may adopt standards that ask
students to learn at high levels, but
classroom assignments often do not
match the standards.
. A study by Dataworks of California
showed that 98 percent of assignments
given to learners were below level.

contd
Principals should have systems or
processes that schools can use to
analyze teacher assignments and
student work to determine if
assignments really require students
to do high-quality work that helps
them meet the standards.

Contd
4. Personalizing School to Engage
Students in Learning
When standards are raised, extra help
programs are necessary for students to
achieve at higher levels.
. The components of effective extra-help
programs, how we help students
successfully make transitions from one
level of school to the next, and
meaningful
advisement/consultation/guidance that
includes parents all contribute to a

Contd
5. Assessing Academic Rigor to Ensure
Academic Achievement
. Academic rigor refers to the extent to
which the school community experiences
a strong emphasis on academic success
and specific standards of achievement.
Although school leaders generally
recognize the importance of rigor, many
are not thoroughly and accurately
measuring, monitoring and encouraging it.

Contd
Too often instruction is seen to be hard, tough
and sometimes boring. School leaders should
learn how to use tools and strategies to
determine whether rigor exists in the school.
The level of cognitive complexity of expected
learning (rigor) may be directly examined at
the classroom level in lesson plans, unit plans,
and course content; teacher assignments and
student work; formative and summative
assessments; and the tight alignment of these
elements to challenging standards.