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Curriculum review rubric

A maintainer/reviewer should score substantive proposals against these questions.

1. Cross-domain value

Does the change unlock multiple downstream capabilities, or only add local detail?

2. Necessity

Can the target capability be regenerated without it?

If yes, the proposal may be valuable but is probably deferred, not minimum.

3. Transfer

Does the proposed concept reappear across domains?

4. Evidence quality

Prefer, in order:

  1. primary/official source;
  2. authoritative synthesis;
  3. institutional teaching material;
  4. secondary explainer;
  5. AI synthesis.

AI synthesis can organize; it cannot serve as final authority.

5. Proof of ownership

Can the learner:

  • regenerate;
  • solve an unseen case;
  • construct a counterexample/failure;
  • state assumptions;
  • measure/check;
  • defend?

6. Opportunity cost

What is deleted or compressed?

A curriculum that only grows is not a theoretical minimum.

7. System closure

Does the change account for measurement, scale, reliability, economics, safety, or institutions where relevant?

8. Epistemic labeling

Normative and practitioner sources are welcome when useful, but must not be presented as empirical consensus.

9. Safety

Do not turn the educational repository into operational guidance for harmful biological manipulation, weapons, malicious software, or evasion.

10. Adversarial review

The author should state the strongest case against their own change.