Empowering Teachers through Curriculum Development: A Needs Assessment for Schools

Empowering Teachers as Curriculum Developers Starts with Listening

Teachers wear many hats. One of the most important, but often overlooked, is their role in curriculum development. When teachers are confident in curriculum development and supported with the right professional learning, student learning thrives.

But how do you know where to start?

A short, targeted needs assessment can reveal powerful insights about how your faculty perceives and participates in curriculum planning at your school.

Use this free survey to explore:

• Teachers’ foundational understanding of curriculum vs. instruction vs. assessment

• Frequency and approach to unit planning

• Use of curriculum resources (textbooks, AI, PLCs, etc.)

• Interest areas for professional learning

This diagnostic tool is designed specifically for schools, where curriculum planning often falls directly on teachers and academic leaders.

Preview the survey questions

Adapt this Survey to use with Your Team

1. Get your copy of the survey.
2. Save it to your Google Drive
3. Adjust the title and colors to make it your own
4. Click the Responses tab, then click Link to Sheets
5. Create a new spreadsheet for your team’s responses.

Save Your Copy of the Survey

Email Template to Share Survey with Teachers

Subject:
Help Us Improve Curriculum Planning – 5 Minute Survey

Body:
Hi Team,

We’re asking for your input on curriculum development at . Your responses will help us understand where our team is confident—and where we might need more support—to make curriculum mapping a more purposeful and collaborative process.

This short survey takes about 5 minutes to complete and is anonymous. It covers:

• Your experiences with curriculum planning and unit design
• The tools and resources you rely on
• Your interests for future professional learning

- Link to your Google Form

Once responses are in, we’ll review the results and use them to guide next steps in strengthening our curriculum planning process.

Thank you for taking the time to reflect and contribute!

—

Why This Matters

Curriculum and lesson development is more than documentation. It’s a collaborative process that:

• Builds instructional coherence across grades and subjects

• Makes standards actionable and visible

• Helps new teachers get up to speed faster

• Provides a foundation for meaningful assessment and instructional improvement

Yet many schools don’t know their baseline. Are teachers aligned in their understanding? Confident in backward design? Using consistent resources?

The Power Insights. Ready to strengthen your curriculum development process from within?

Once members of your team complete the survey.  Schedule a 20-min follow-up call with us to walk through your results.

**Under "How can our FariaLearn team support your school?" input "Curriculum Needs Assessment Survey Review"

Further Reading:

• The Benefits of Unit Planning
• Supporting New Teachers with Curriculum Mapping
• Curriculum Map Examples and Challenges