Introducing the Curriculum Insight Project
Introducing the Curriculum Insight Project
A collaborative effort to advance the conversation about curriculum quality and increase the transparency of the curriculum landscape
The Curriculum Insight Project is a collaborative effort to advance the conversation about curriculum quality and increase the transparency of the curriculum landscape. We want to make conversations about curriculum more substantial and tangible, in an effort to move the definition of “high quality” beyond “all green” on EdReports.
Teams of educators and literacy experts are authoring reports on a series of curricula, selected based on input from the field.
Initially, we want to raise awareness of the issues with popular or overrated elementary ELA curricula. Our reports will summarize the key shortcomings for these programs, while sharing supporting evidence (lesson excerpts, details from Scope and Sequence, etc). It isn’t enough to tell you that a program is flawed, we intend to show you. Our authoring teams include educators using these programs, and they’ll bring tangible details and classroom experience to the reports.
Currently, we are working on reports for:
Three Basal Programs: Into Reading, Benchmark Advance, and Savvas MyView. Each falls short of high-quality, and we will detail the shortcomings.
Two Balanced Literacy Curricula: Fountas & Pinnell and Teachers College Reading Workshop Units of Study. Many districts are sticking with these programs while adding a “phonics patch”. We will illuminate the shortcomings of these programs, beyond foundational skills.
One High-Quality Exemplar: We decided to publish one report on a high-quality program as a non-example, to reinforce an important point: although no curriculum is perfect, strong, comprehensive programs do exist, and districts don’t need to settle for flawed or mediocre options. We selected Bookworms, because it deserves a higher review than it received from EdReports – especially in light of multiple studies showing strong outcomes from its use.
We’re sharing these plans now because it’s curriculum adoption season, and we want this work on the radar of districts considering these programs. Our reports will publish this winter or early spring, at the latest. This list may grow with additional feedback from the field.
If you are working with one of the above programs – or another curriculum that deserves our attention – you are warmly invited to join the Curriculum Insight Project as a contributor. Please get in touch here.
Subscribe to our Substack, or follow us in Twitter, to stay updated on our work. And please spread the word!
Also, Virginia Quinn-Mooney of the Science of Reading - What I Should Have Learned in College FB group will host a Virtual Happy Hour to introduce the project on Wednesday, Jan 31st at 8pm EST. We warmly invite you to join.
This is so exciting! What a great initiative. Congrats! I don’t know if you have seen it, but Sarah Schwartz just (2/1/22) asked the SOR Facebook Group to comment on educational publishers who have been label slapping (touting themselves as Science of Reading Aligned, without much understanding of or adherence to the SOR) and she had 100 comments in the first 4 hours. Your efforts were mentioned by a few folks there. BTW, when you get around to discussing great programs based on solid adherence to the SOR, don’t forget about us at Really Great Reading. We've dedicated countless hours to studying the research and developing tools, so your educators don't have to. This diligence ensures that teachers can devote more time to the art and craft of teaching. At Really Great Reading, we truly understand the challenges schools face and the reasons why this valuable scientifically aligned methods hasn't been embraced in many schools. We are uniquely poised to help with these challenges. Our specialty is to help schools bridge the gap between research and classroom practices with practical tools for educators of all ability levels.
Was the Virtual Happy Hour recorded? I'm sorry I missed the live event.