WGU D630: Designing Curriculum and Instruction I

The Course Where You Stop Writing Lessons and Start Building Systems

D630, Designing Curriculum and Instruction I, is one of the ten courses in WGU's Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction, and it asks you to change altitude. Most people who arrive here already know how to build a lesson — you can take a standard and turn it into something students actually do on a Tuesday morning. D630 zooms out from that. WGU's own course description frames it as an examination of the influence that specific theories, design principles, and evaluation models have on the quality and effectiveness of a curriculum. For the length of this course you are not the teacher of one classroom — you are the person accountable for what an entire program teaches, in what order, and whether the pieces actually connect.

Direct answer: D630 is assessed through written performance tasks rather than a proctored exam, so there is nothing to cram. You pass by submitting curriculum analysis, alignment, and curriculum-mapping work that addresses every rubric line with specific, cited evidence drawn from one real curriculum you can actually get your hands on. Choose that curriculum in your first sitting, and write to the rubric literally rather than eloquently.

WGU states that candidates in this course conduct a curriculum analysis to determine the content students need, define scope and sequence so that a curriculum aligns both vertically and horizontally, and map curriculum in order to address gaps or unnecessary duplication within and across grade levels. That is the whole course in one sentence. Notice that every verb is something you produce, not something you recall.

The people taking D630 are practicing teachers, instructional coaches, and aspiring curriculum specialists working through a program WGU describes as ten courses that most students complete in about eighteen months, with a substantial share finishing sooner. D630 also lays the groundwork for Designing Curriculum and Instruction II, so the analytical habits you build here get reused almost immediately. Doing this course carefully is an investment in the next one, not a hurdle to clear and forget.

What the Performance Tasks Actually Ask For

Because there is no objective assessment, "what's on the test" is really "what do the rubrics demand." Student-facing task listings and the official course description point to the same four connected areas:

• Curriculum analysis. Take a real, whole curriculum currently in use and examine what it genuinely teaches — including how well it does or does not develop skills beyond pure academic content.
• Theories, design principles, and evaluation models. Ground your judgments in recognized curriculum frameworks rather than personal preference, and be explicit about which model you are applying and why.
• Alignment, both vertical and horizontal. Vertical alignment asks whether what students learn in one grade or level prepares them for the next, without cliffs or redundant repetition. Horizontal alignment asks whether objectives, instruction, and assessment agree with each other within a single course or grade level. If the objective says "analyze" and the assessment only asks students to list, you have something worth writing about.
• Curriculum mapping. Produce a map that makes gaps and unnecessary duplication visible across grade levels rather than merely asserting they exist.

Scope and sequence runs underneath all four: what content is covered, in what order, and why that order serves learners. Everything you submit is evaluated against a rubric, so the practical skill being assessed is as much precision and evidence as it is design theory.

How Hard Is D630, and What Should You Budget?

D630 is not conceptually brutal. The reading is generally approachable for anyone with classroom experience. What makes the course demanding is logistical: the ideas are familiar, but the rubrics want specificity, and vague or general writing gets returned for revision.

Budget by task rather than by week. The first task tends to take the longest, because you are simultaneously learning the analysis method, choosing a curriculum, and figuring out how literal the evaluators expect you to be. Later tasks usually move faster once that calibration clicks. Treat a returned submission as normal rather than as failure — revision is a feature of performance assessment, not a verdict on you.

The single biggest variable is access. Students who can pull an actual scope-and-sequence document, pacing guide, or published curriculum for a real school move quickly. Students who try to reconstruct a curriculum from memory stall for days. Solve access first.

A Working Plan That Fits Around a Teaching Job

Before you write anything, choose your curriculum. Pick something you can access in full: your own school's adopted program, a publicly available district scope and sequence, or a published curriculum with documentation online. Confirm it spans enough grade levels to make vertical alignment analyzable. This one decision determines whether the rest of the course is smooth or miserable.

Read the rubric before the course material. Print it. For each rubric line, write the sentence "I will demonstrate this by ______." Any line where you cannot finish that sentence is your reading list. This inverts the usual order and saves hours.

Use active recall on the frameworks, not the tasks. The design theories and evaluation models are the one part of D630 that rewards traditional study. Make a small set of cards — framework name on one side, what it claims and when you would apply it on the other — and quiz yourself in short sessions spread across several days rather than one long block. Spacing works here precisely because you need these terms available while drafting, not merely recognizable while reading.

Draft against the rubric headings. Literally use rubric language as your section headings while writing, then soften them at the end if you like. An evaluator can then find every required element without hunting.

Self-assess before submitting. Reread your draft holding only the rubric, and highlight the exact sentence that satisfies each line. Unhighlighted paragraphs are decoration; unmatched rubric lines are revisions. It is the highest-yield twenty minutes you will spend.

Use your course instructor early. A ten-minute conversation about whether your chosen curriculum will work is worth more than a week of solo drafting. That is what they are there for.

Where D630 Submissions Usually Get Sent Back

• Writing generally instead of specifically. "The curriculum shows strong alignment" is an opinion. "The grade 4 objective requires students to compare two approaches, while the unit assessment asks only for recall" is evidence. Rubrics reward the second.
• Confusing vertical and horizontal alignment. Vertical runs across grade levels over time; horizontal runs across objectives, instruction, and assessment within the same level. Mixing them up is an easy way to lose a rubric line you thought you had covered.
• Choosing a curriculum that is too thin. A single unit does not give you enough material to analyze scope, sequence, and cross-grade gaps. Pick something with real breadth.
• Describing rather than evaluating. Summarizing what a curriculum contains is not analysis. You are expected to judge quality against a framework and say so plainly.
• Skipping the "so what." Identifying a gap without proposing a defensible change leaves a rubric line unmet.
• Leaning on opinion instead of design theory. Classroom experience is valuable context, but the course asks you to reason from established design principles and evaluation models.
• Submitting a map that is really a table of contents. A curriculum map has to reveal something — overlaps, holes, sequencing problems. If yours reveals nothing, it is not yet doing its job.

D630 Readiness Checklist

• Can you name the specific curriculum you will analyze, and access its full documentation right now?
• Can you explain the difference between vertical and horizontal alignment in your own words, with an example of each from your chosen curriculum?
• Can you point to at least one concrete gap or duplication in that curriculum and cite where you found it?
• Can you name two or more curriculum design or evaluation frameworks and say when each is appropriate?
• Can you state the difference between describing a curriculum and evaluating one, and show a sentence of each from your own draft?
• Can you highlight, on your draft, the exact sentence that satisfies every single rubric line?
• Can you defend your proposed changes to the curriculum on grounds other than personal preference?
• Can you explain what your curriculum map shows that a simple content list would not?

D630 FAQ

Is D630 an objective assessment or a performance assessment?

D630 is assessed through performance tasks that you write, build, and submit for evaluation. There is no proctored multiple-choice exam to schedule, which means no testing appointment and no cramming — but also no way to shortcut the writing. Your course of study page in the WGU portal is always the authority on the current assessment format.

How long does D630 usually take?

It varies more than most courses, because it depends on writing speed and revision cycles rather than reading volume. The first task typically consumes a disproportionate share of the time while you calibrate to the rubrics; the rest tend to go faster. Plan by task, not by calendar week, and assume at least one revision.

What curriculum should I choose to analyze?

Choose one you can fully access and that spans multiple grade levels or course levels — your school's adopted program is usually the best option. Avoid anything where you would have to guess at the scope and sequence, and avoid a single isolated unit, since neither gives you enough material to analyze.

Do I need to be a classroom teacher to do well in D630?

It helps, because you likely already have a curriculum in front of you, but it is not the deciding factor. What matters is access to real curriculum documentation and a willingness to evaluate it against established frameworks rather than instinct.

How does D630 connect to the rest of my program?

D630 comes before Designing Curriculum and Instruction II, so the analysis habits you build here get used again almost immediately. The program also includes Standards-Based Assessment, and our guide to D184 Standards-Based Assessment covers the measurement side of the same design problem. Our D293 Assessment and Learning Analytics guide is a useful companion read. You can browse related coursework on our School of Education hub or the full course guide index.

What is the single best thing I can do to pass on the first submission?

Read the rubric before the course material, then write your draft using rubric language as your section headings. Evaluators are checking whether each required element is present and supported with specific evidence from your chosen curriculum. Making that easy to verify is the whole game.

For official program details, course sequencing, and current requirements, consult WGU's MS Curriculum and Instruction program page. This guide is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Western Governors University.