A school curriculum framework is the listing of outcomes by grade level that guides the development of instruction and the selection and placement of instructional materials. The framework should focus on curriculum coherence—the way the content that students learn builds within a grade and over the span of grades. Once the school community has identified the goals and standards that guide the curriculum program and agree on a vision, the school community can begin work on the curriculum framework. The school community may also review the curriculum framework mandated at the state or local level if one is in place.

• Concepts in the framework should be assigned to grade levels based on what students are capable of learning.
  
  
• The framework should indicate development of knowledge, processes, skills, understandings, and abilities over several years.
  
  
• The framework should clearly indicate what content standards and environmental factors are prerequisites for higher levels of learning.
  
  
• The assignment of content across grade levels should be appropriately balanced and/or concentrated.
  
  
• Concepts in the framework should be grouped to form the basis of units or courses, with logical connections shown both within a grouping and across grades.
  
  
• The framework should account for all standards.

In a well-designed curriculum framework, the sequence is cumulative, with each subsequent level applying, extending, and building on previously obtained knowledge. The main purpose is to build coherence by describing a reasonable flow of these ideas across the grade levels. The same criteria hold for an integrated curriculum framework.

It should be clear that neither content standards nor the framework together or alone constitute curriculum. Standards and frameworks identify the concepts that are to be learned and the order in which they are to be addressed. They do not specify how the content is taught.