Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Curriculum Reviewer

🎯 Role Definition

The Curriculum Reviewer is a content quality and instructional integrity specialist responsible for evaluating, validating, and improving educational materials to ensure alignment with learning objectives, standards, and accessibility best practices. This role partners with subject-matter experts, instructional designers, assessment developers, product managers, and editorial teams to perform rigorous curriculum reviews, create actionable feedback, and drive continuous improvement in learning experiences across print, digital, and blended modalities. Ideal candidates bring a deep foundation in pedagogy, assessment design, standards mapping (e.g., CCSS, NGSS, ISTE), and experience with LMS/curriculum authoring tools, while demonstrating strong editorial judgment, cultural responsiveness, and project management discipline.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Instructional Designer / Learning Designer
Classroom Teacher or K-12/College Faculty with curriculum experience
Content Editor or Educational Content Developer

Advancement To:

Senior Curriculum Reviewer / Lead Curriculum Strategist
Curriculum Manager or Head of Instructional Quality
Director of Curriculum & Instruction or Academic Product Manager

Lateral Moves:

Assessment Specialist / Assessment Designer
Instructional Design Manager
Learning Experience (LX/UX) Designer

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Conduct comprehensive reviews of instructional materials (lessons, units, teacher guides, assessments, multimedia assets, and e-learning modules) to ensure alignment with stated learning objectives, scope and sequence, and grade-level expectations across K-12 and higher education programs.
Map curriculum content to national, state, and district standards (e.g., Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, state-specific standards), identifying gaps, redundancies, and misalignments and producing clear remediation recommendations.
Evaluate assessment items for validity and reliability by checking item alignment to learning outcomes, appropriate cognitive demand using Bloom's taxonomy, clarity of prompts, rubric alignment, and cultural fairness; recommend or author revised items and rubrics where necessary.
Perform detailed content edits for instructional clarity, accuracy of subject matter, grade-level readability, and pedagogical coherence while preserving voice and instructional intent of authors and SMEs.
Verify that all learning materials meet accessibility and inclusive design standards (WCAG, Universal Design for Learning), including alt text, transcript quality, color contrast, cognitive load considerations, and culturally responsive pedagogy.
Create and maintain detailed rubric-driven review documents and editorial guidelines that standardize quality criteria across authors and reviewers, including checklists for alignment, assessment, pacing, differentiation, and scaffolding.
Lead cross-functional review cycles with product managers, designers, and developers to ensure curricular changes are feasible within technical constraints (LMS compatibility, SCORM/xAPI packaging) and to coordinate updates to live courses.
Provide actionable, prioritized feedback to authors and content teams through written review reports, annotated documents, andtracked tickets in project management tools (e.g., JIRA, Asana, Trello), ensuring feedback is specific, measurable, and pedagogically grounded.
Conduct gap analyses and curriculum audits to inform curriculum roadmap decisions, identifying opportunities for new modules, remediation pathways, or competency-based learning sequences.
Pilot reviewed curriculum with educators and learners (focus groups, beta tests) and synthesize qualitative and quantitative feedback to make iterative improvements to scope, pacing, and assessments.
Ensure citations, factual accuracy, and appropriate use of third-party resources; flag copyright or licensing issues and work with legal and content teams on permissions and attribution.
Maintain version control and metadata standards for content repositories; tag content with standards alignment, grade band, competencies, and accessibility attributes for discoverability in content management systems.
Build and maintain relationships with subject-matter experts (SMEs), teachers, and academic advisers to validate content accuracy, pedagogical approaches, and real-world applicability.
Translate high-level curriculum strategy into sample lesson flows, exemplar units, and guidance documents that help teachers implement content effectively in diverse classroom settings.
Design and refine formative and summative assessment strategies to measure mastery, support differentiation, and provide clear reporting metrics aligned to learning outcomes and KPIs.
Train and mentor junior reviewers, editorial staff, and contributors on curriculum standards, review rubrics, and quality expectations, including running calibration sessions to maintain consistency across reviewers.
Monitor research trends in learning sciences, pedagogy, assessment, and edtech to recommend evidence-based updates and innovations in curriculum design and instructional approaches.
Evaluate multimedia and interactive elements for instructional relevance, usability, and learning effectiveness, providing guidance on when to deploy video, simulations, interactive assessments, or practice opportunities.
Identify and mitigate potential cultural bias or lack of representation in instructional materials and assessments, recommending inclusive examples, diverse perspectives, and culturally responsive adaptations.
Manage multiple review projects simultaneously, maintain clear timelines, and ensure deliverables meet publication schedules and product release milestones.
Collaborate with localization and translation teams to adapt curriculum for different languages and cultural contexts while preserving learning objectives and assessment fidelity.
Develop and maintain style guides and content templates that codify pedagogical best practices, language conventions, and formatting standards for scalable curriculum production.
Use analytics and learner performance data (LMS reports, assessment item statistics, completion rates) to inform revisions, identify low-performing content, and prioritize high-impact updates.
Contribute to product strategy and roadmap discussions by providing input on curricular scope, resource needs, teacher supports, and assessment capabilities necessary to reach learning goals.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc stakeholder requests for curriculum samples, alignment matrices, or justification memos for adoption committees and external reviewers.
Assist in building training materials and professional development workshops to help educators and implementation partners use the curriculum effectively.
Participate in product sprint planning and content release cycles to provide curriculum QA and sign-off before publication.
Contribute to content governance by maintaining a centralized knowledge base of review decisions, rubrics, and FAQ guidance for authors and SMEs.
Support occasional field visits or remote classroom observations to validate how curriculum is enacted in real learning environments and capture teacher feedback.
Help curate and prioritize backlog items related to curriculum technical debt, content refreshes, and standards updates in collaboration with product and engineering teams.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Curriculum mapping and standards alignment (CCSS, NGSS, state standards, ISTE) with documented experience producing alignment matrices and remediation plans.
Instructional design proficiency, including writing measurable learning objectives, sequencing lessons, scaffolding content, and designing formative and summative assessments.
Assessment literacy: item writing, rubric creation, bias review, psychometric awareness, and experience working with assessment analytics.
Expertise with authoring and review tools (Google Docs, Microsoft Word Track Changes, Adobe Acrobat), plus familiarity with e-learning authoring tools (Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate) and content packaging standards (SCORM, xAPI).
LMS experience: packaging content for LMSs, validating content behavior in popular platforms (Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Brightspace), and troubleshooting content delivery issues.
Accessibility and inclusive design knowledge (WCAG guidelines, UDL principles), including practical experience auditing and remediating content for accessibility.
Data-informed decision making: ability to interpret learner performance metrics, A/B/pilot test results, and content usage statistics to guide revisions.
Experience with content management systems (CMS) and version control for educational materials; tagging and metadata best practices for discoverability.
Strong editorial skills: copyediting for clarity, grade-level readability, tone, and pedagogical appropriateness; knowledge of readability metrics (Lexile, Flesch–Kincaid).
Familiarity with competency-based education frameworks, backward design (Understanding by Design), and Bloom’s taxonomy in practice.

Soft Skills

Excellent written and verbal communication for providing constructive, actionable feedback to authors, SMEs, and stakeholders.
Strong collaboration and stakeholder management abilities across cross-functional teams (product, design, engineering, legal).
Critical thinking and pedagogical judgment to balance curriculum fidelity, teacher autonomy, and learner needs.
High attention to detail with a commitment to content accuracy, fairness, and quality control.
Project management and time management skills to prioritize multiple concurrent review cycles and meet publication deadlines.
Cultural competence and empathy to evaluate materials for inclusivity and learner-centered design.
Facilitation and training skills for running calibration sessions and educator professional development.
Adaptability and continuous learning mindset to incorporate new research and edtech innovations into review practices.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Education, Instructional Design, Curriculum & Instruction, Subject-area discipline (e.g., Mathematics, Science, English), or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Curriculum & Instruction, Instructional Design, Educational Leadership, Learning Sciences, or a closely related advanced degree.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Curriculum & Instruction
Instructional Design & Technology
Education Leadership
Subject-area content degrees (e.g., Mathematics, Science, English)
Learning Sciences / Educational Psychology

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3–7 years of direct experience in curriculum review, instructional design, teaching, or educational content development.

Preferred:

5+ years of experience reviewing or developing standards-aligned curriculum and assessments for K-12, higher education, or corporate learning environments, with demonstrable experience in accessibility standards, LMS integration, and cross-functional project delivery.