Submitted by Steve Jubb (not verified) on March 2, 2007 - 22:15.
This poll illustrates the problem with data from polls. This is not a "yes" or "no" question. The question should be, "WHEN do the benefits of scripted curricla outweigh the drawbacks? ...and for whom?" There are tradeoff's for every teaching paradigm and affect individuals and groups of students differently. Fundamentally, education is a value-based enterprise and can be "scientifically" measured within but not across value systems. I agree that there is no substitute for well-prepared teachers teaching within a context of a true professional learning community with plenty of support for students and adults. The problem is that few schools in our urban centers (where I have worked all my career) enjoy those conditions.
Many low income children of color attend schools with hodgepodge curricular materials, no schoolwide literacy program and teachers without the proper support or training to work with the students they see every day. This is often exacerbated by high teacher mobility. In such cases, having a clear, well developed and "scripted" curricula for teachers to follow is an improvement for those students. Worse, insistence on teacher (or even school) autonomy in such cases often makes things worse by ensuring a random, disconnected approach to skill development. I am talking about triage here.
Ultimately Open Court-type curricula will never achieve what it takes for truly high quality and equitable education which relies not only on wise teacher judgment (knowing when to depart from the recipe), but on the values and participation of parents and/or community members in supporting each student's learning.
This poll illustrates the
Submitted by Steve Jubb (not verified) on March 2, 2007 - 22:15.
This poll illustrates the problem with data from polls. This is not a "yes" or "no" question. The question should be, "WHEN do the benefits of scripted curricla outweigh the drawbacks? ...and for whom?" There are tradeoff's for every teaching paradigm and affect individuals and groups of students differently. Fundamentally, education is a value-based enterprise and can be "scientifically" measured within but not across value systems. I agree that there is no substitute for well-prepared teachers teaching within a context of a true professional learning community with plenty of support for students and adults. The problem is that few schools in our urban centers (where I have worked all my career) enjoy those conditions.
Many low income children of color attend schools with hodgepodge curricular materials, no schoolwide literacy program and teachers without the proper support or training to work with the students they see every day. This is often exacerbated by high teacher mobility. In such cases, having a clear, well developed and "scripted" curricula for teachers to follow is an improvement for those students. Worse, insistence on teacher (or even school) autonomy in such cases often makes things worse by ensuring a random, disconnected approach to skill development. I am talking about triage here.
Ultimately Open Court-type curricula will never achieve what it takes for truly high quality and equitable education which relies not only on wise teacher judgment (knowing when to depart from the recipe), but on the values and participation of parents and/or community members in supporting each student's learning.