Our Curriculum Review Landscape is ‘Frankly Bananas’
Read up on the issues with curriculum reviews in America.
If you want states to pursue curriculum reform, you must take the time to understand the issues with curriculum reviews in America.
EdReports
EdReports, the curriculum review heavyweight, has lost the trust of the field. Here’s some reading:
Natalie Wexler detailed the issues with EdReports brilliantly.
Holly Korbey recently explained the problems with EdReports and shortcomings of the curriculum review landscape generally. “The piecemeal system of rating curriculum is frankly bananas,” Korbey writes, and she’s not wrong.
Emily Hanford’s Sold a Story puts a spotlight on Ohio to understand why two high-performing programs aren’t on the EdReports list.
Before that media wave, I summarized the concerns about EdReports. Later, I reported on the slow pivot at the organization, which recently announced a leadership change.
If you want to see how EdReports made a mess of one state’s curriculum list, read about the Ohio curriculum list. It’s a cautionary tale.
Reading League
The Reading League (RL) reviews are popular among RL devotees. They focus overwhelmingly on foundational skills, and have notable shortcomings in other realms.
For example, the RL reviews give surprisingly positive reviews for content quality to curricula with few-to-no books.
Much more to say about the RL reviews and their reception by the field.
Overall
The failures at EdReports, and the lack of an alternative source of information, leave the field in a rough place.
Most states don’t have the capacity to do strong curriculum reviews; they are a TON of work, and the work of savvy literacy minds. Ideally, we would have one national guidepost for reference by states. Sadly, we lost that opportunity when EdReports – which once did stronger work – went sideways around 2018-19.