Yes! This gets at something I’ve been increasingly concerned about. The problem isn’t just individual curriculum lists or reviewers, but the broader ecosystem that determines what counts as “quality” in the first place. Too often, rigor, coherence, and evidence of effectiveness are displaced by alignment language, branding, or ideological signaling.
I’m currently working on a book that examines this larger pattern of curriculum capture: how review systems, policy incentives, and professional norms have narrowed what reaches classrooms while insulating those decisions from meaningful scrutiny. Your article's analysis of the curriculum flaws fits right within that landscape.
Thank you for highlighting this extremely important issue. If you want to see something truly bananas up close, here is a blog post I wrote in 2019 where I dissected a Wonders writing lesson for first graders. https://www.growingwriters.org/blog/ed-reports-has-it-backwards
Thank you for talking about this! With all of the information we have about best practices, we have to be questioning ALL aspects of education. The entire field needs a shift - not just the teachers. As educators, it’s imperative that we continue to ask questions, point out inconsistencies, and evaluate everything to keep us all moving towards better practices. Otherwise this will just be a phase that passes with minimal change.
Yes! This gets at something I’ve been increasingly concerned about. The problem isn’t just individual curriculum lists or reviewers, but the broader ecosystem that determines what counts as “quality” in the first place. Too often, rigor, coherence, and evidence of effectiveness are displaced by alignment language, branding, or ideological signaling.
I’m currently working on a book that examines this larger pattern of curriculum capture: how review systems, policy incentives, and professional norms have narrowed what reaches classrooms while insulating those decisions from meaningful scrutiny. Your article's analysis of the curriculum flaws fits right within that landscape.
This is an overdue conversation.
Thank you for highlighting this extremely important issue. If you want to see something truly bananas up close, here is a blog post I wrote in 2019 where I dissected a Wonders writing lesson for first graders. https://www.growingwriters.org/blog/ed-reports-has-it-backwards
Thanks for continuing to bring this very important topic to light.
Not the most fun topic for writing on a winter afternoon... but important, for sure.
Thank you for talking about this! With all of the information we have about best practices, we have to be questioning ALL aspects of education. The entire field needs a shift - not just the teachers. As educators, it’s imperative that we continue to ask questions, point out inconsistencies, and evaluate everything to keep us all moving towards better practices. Otherwise this will just be a phase that passes with minimal change.