Not everyone interested in education is cut out for the classroom. While many people may pursue degrees in education, and even teach in the classroom for a few years, some of those people would be far more effective outside of a classroom than actually in it. It may seem counterintuitive to try to affect the classroom without teaching in one, but it's possible to make quite an impact on the classroom from the outside in if you're in charge of writing a curriculum for the classroom to learn from. There are many curriculum instruction degrees that can train and equip you for this line of work.

The most common curriculum instruction degrees you'll find in this field are Master of Arts degrees. You can get your Master of Arts in Education/Curriculum and Instruction at a variety of institutions of higher learning. You can even specialize you degree in an area such as Reading, computer education, or English and Language Arts Education. But even a general master's degree in Education/Curriculum and Instruction will give you the basic framework of knowledge that you'll need in order to effectively create and improve teaching curricula for students at every level of teaching and learning.

You can also get a Master of Science degree in Curriculum and Instruction. While curriculum instruction degrees from arts or education programs focus primarily on the art of teaching or a strictly educational view of curricula, a Master of Science provides you with more of a scientific background of learning. By taking a more scientific approach to creating curricula, the Master of Science program is preparing you to create curricula with the science behind learning in mind: the stimuli that work to spark learning and enhance memory in the brain, even how long to spend on a topic before your students will zone out.

The Masters of Education in Curriculum Instruction and Masters of Education in Instructional Technology focus on the more educational aspects of curriculum instruction degrees. You'll learn educational theory that combines science with art in a way that will help you to make learning fun for students while also making it effective. You can also pursue a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership/Curriculum and Instruction if you want to pursue your field of study to its ultimate end. This degree will prepare you to be an advocate for education as well as preparing excellent curricula for students and teachers.

The newest category of curriculum instruction degrees is the Master of e-Learning and Instructional Technology. With a heavy emphasis on the role that technology plays in education, it also allows you to focus your studies on Organizational Training and Development or Training for Learning and Communication. It will teach you how to incorporate the use of technology into your curricula so that you can take advantage of the many technological advances that are available to teachers and students, and to use your curricula not only to help students to learn the information that they need to know, but also to teach them how to use technology to learn.