Responsibility for Curriculum Evaluation in Centralized Systems

The tradition in Australia of strong system control over the curriculum has been changed significantly by the devolution of responsibility for curriculum development to the school level. The State systems, however, have not devolved the responsibility for curriculum evaluation to the same extent as they have the responsibility for curriculum development. If the system's evaluation procedures substantially influence the nature of a school's curriculum, the school cannot be said to be really responsible for that curriculum. Despite this, system authorities appear reluctant to devolve all responsibility for curriculum evaluation to schools. Indeed, there appears to be a common agreement that systems must monitor their schools for accountability purposes. If this difference in responsibility remains unresolved it could lead to overlap of effort or conflict between schools and system-level authorities. Alternatively, it could lead to schools failing to take up the curriculum freedom offered. Examples of incons...