The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority have just released the” draft Australian Curriculum for English, mathematics, science and history (K-10). It will be available for consultation and comment from 1 March 2010 to the end of May 2010.”

The website continues to explain the process:

How you can get involved in the consultation process

ACARA’s consultation processes for the draft Australian Curriculum will be conducted in partnership with state and territory curriculum and school authorities.

ACARA encourages involvement of all stakeholders during this key stage of curriculum development.

Opportunities will be available to provide feedback on the draft curriculum through:

• Completion of an on-line survey
• State/territory and national consultation forums
• Some short-term, trialing activities with teachers and schools using the draft curriculum materials.

On-line survey

Teachers and other stakeholders in the broader education community will be able to review the curriculum materials and provide targeted feedback through an online survey. This will include the options of annotating the work, posing questions and providing written comments.

Stakeholder consultation forums

State and territory consultation forums

Throughout the consultation period, ACARA will conduct forums in each state and territory to gather feedback on the draft K-10 curriculum.

Participation in these consultation forums will be coordinated by the relevant state and territory education authorities.

National forums

In addition to the state and territory forums, ACARA will convene national forums during the latter part of April 2010, inviting nominated teachers, national professional associations, education and discipline academics, to provide expert feedback on the draft K-10 curriculum.

Trialing activities

ACARA, in collaboration with state and territory education authorities, have selected schools to be involved in some short-term trialing activities. About 150 schools will undertake a range of planning, teaching and assessing activities using the draft K-10 Australian Curriculum. The 150 schools include a cross-section of schools based on jurisdiction, geography, size, sector, and socio-economic status.

Schools will participate by developing teaching program/s and assessments, teaching part of the content and providing student work samples, and testing the functionality, accessibility and usefulness of the online curriculum.

This practical application will provide ACARA with very useful feedback to review and improve the draft materials.

All educators are urged to investigate and comment on proposals within the time frame.