CURRICULUM APPROVAL IN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY COLLEGES: LOCAL AND STATE PROCESSES

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Abstract
Following a discussion of the historical relationship between education and democracy, from which the concept of curriculum emerges as a legitimate field of research, this paper traces the development of curricular diversity in U.S. two‐year institutions and reviews the control and coordinating functions of curriculum governance in the community college systems of several states. The paper focuses on the system of curricular administration in Illinois, in which primary responsibility rests with the local two‐year school board and a coordinating function with a state agency, the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB). The state process is summarized and the local process of course and program approval from initiation to implementation in Illinois community colleges is identified. The data suggest that while the state role in curricular governance is formally defined as one of coordination, the local community college curriculum administrators may in fact view it as one of control.

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