Delving into the concerns about EdReports
Natalie Wexler’s reporting on EdReports concerns continues to reverberate.
If you haven’t read it yet, we highly recommend it – not only because Wexler puts a spotlight on our work. (Thank you!)
Read it because everyone seems to be talking about it. Virginia state board member Andy Rotherham is calling it “important.”
It’s pushing the conversation about curriculum quality forward, a goal we share.
Wexler dedicates a section to an important reality: few people criticize EdReports publicly. She suggests some plausible explanations. Again, we hope you read them for yourself.
We would like to add one hypothesis:
People don’t criticize EdReports because most don’t look closely at multiple curriculum options in depth. How would they know that the “all-green” category has a high degree of quality variance?
Think about it… How many people do you know that have looked closely at more than three or four curricula from the latest generation of options?
Curriculum is dense and complex. EdReports currently lists 11 elementary ELA curricula as all-green. How many literacy organizations have the capacity to look at half of those programs in detail? How many school districts?
Basal programs are even more dense and complex. For example, Into Reading offers 7,524 different resources for first grade teachers, and 5,433 resources for third grade teachers. Not an easy program to explore quickly!
We suspect many people have scratched their heads as basals earned all-green ratings in the last few years, but they simply haven’t had enough insight into the programs to offer an informed point of view.
Our reports aim to change that, by giving districts an efficient way to look under the hood of popular and emerging programs.
Because we can answer the question easily: no school district has the capacity to look closely at 10+ curricula in a review process.
We are proud to be doing work that will bring greater transparency to the curriculum landscape, and empower educators in curriculum selection and implementation.
Please encourage your colleagues to follow the Curriculum Insight Project. We have lots to share in the weeks to come.