Alongside the lesson planning, grading, and behavior management that are part of teachers鈥� day-to-day, most also face another big responsibility: curriculum design.
Over 90 percent of teachers make or seek out their own materials鈥攁 situation that鈥檚 time-consuming for educators and can be inequitable for students. Quality on the lesson-sharing websites that many teachers turn to varies, and it鈥檚 not uncommon for materials to include errors or racist stereotypes.
Most school districts that try to address this issue turn to curriculum companies, purchasing an off-the-shelf program that can then be adapted to fit their needs. But over the past few years, several big city districts have gone a different route, launching projects to create their own homegrown curricula.
In 2018, Baltimore city schools unveiled 鈥淏more Me,鈥� a series of social studies units grounded in the city鈥檚 history and civic society. Other projects have spanned multiple subjects: Last school year, Chicago schools debuted its Skyline curriculum, which offers pre-K-12 lessons in English/language arts, math, science, social studies, world languages, and arts.
New York City, too, announced plans to create a culturally responsive English/language arts and math curriculum in 2021, though it has reportedly since scaled back the project.
The decision to create materials isn鈥檛 for lack of options. There鈥檚 an abundance of choice in ELA and math, especially, with an increasing number of commercial products receiving high marks from independent reviewers like EdReports. But district officials and advocates say that their work still fills an unmet need鈥攆or materials that are aligned to standards and coherent across grade levels, but also reflective of the city where they live and the students they serve.
鈥淒o you see yourselves in this curriculum? Do you feel a sense of relevance with your peers and your community? We really see that as a core outcome,鈥� said Mary Beck, the acting chief of teaching and learning for Chicago Public Schools.
Still, as the recent changes to the scope of New York鈥檚 work demonstrates, building a full set of resources in-house is an expensive, uphill climb. New York had originally set aside $202 million for its curriculum; Chicago spent $135 million in upfront costs.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a real science and smarts behind how to construct a thoughtful curriculum,鈥� said Cami Anderson, the founder and CEO of ThirdWay Solutions, a consulting group that works with organizations on social equity issues, and a former superintendent in Newark, N.J.
鈥淲hat you teach in what sequence, how you spiral it, whether you teach math concept x before y,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 one of those people who are 鈥� glad that there are experts out there who think about that 24/7.鈥�
Giving kids a 鈥榙eep understanding of their history鈥�
Whether it鈥檚 bought off the shelf or created in-house, all strong curricula share certain qualities, experts say.
It鈥檚 aligned to state learning standards and gives students rigorous, grade-level work. It鈥檚 designed to be coherent through the grade levels, so that students build on their knowledge and skills from year to year鈥攐ne critical part of strengthening reading comprehension. It鈥檚 culturally responsive, reflecting students鈥� lives and identities while also introducing them to new ideas. It鈥檚 based on research about how students learn. And it鈥檚 written in a way that鈥檚 usable鈥攖hat makes it easy for teachers to plan lessons and teach.
Over the years, the curriculum market has improved so that there are more options that meet many of those criteria, Anderson said. But that doesn鈥檛 mean districts won鈥檛 have to tweak products to meet their needs, she added: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e always having to solve for something,鈥� she said.
Even so, she thinks that it makes sense for districts to pick something on the market as a foundation, and adjust from there鈥攁t least in ELA and math, where options are stronger than science and social studies, she said.
Creating homegrown curricula is 鈥渆xceedingly time-intensive,鈥� and requires in-house subject-matter experts, Anderson said. Districts also need to create processes to organize the work and technology infrastructure to house it, she added.
Most of the time, it makes sense to leave all of that to outside groups that focus on curriculum development as their bread and butter, said David Steiner, the executive director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy, a research hub that also works with districts to study curriculum implementation. 鈥淒esigning curriculum and teaching curriculum are both very, very demanding skill sets,鈥� he said.
鈥淲hen Meryl Streep decides whether she鈥檚 going to act in a movie, she doesn鈥檛 say, 鈥楴o way, I didn鈥檛 write the script,鈥欌�� he continued. 鈥淪he says, 鈥楪ive me the best possible script so that my acting abilities can really shine.鈥欌��
Steiner sees what Baltimore has done as an exception. The school system uses commercial curricula for ELA and math, and has designed BMore Me as a supplemental social studies option.
鈥淭hat seems to me to be an intelligent way forward, because you combine a really outstanding nationally vetted curriculum with specific extra background for children about their own geography,鈥� Steiner said.
The , written by teachers, are each designed around a central question鈥攊deas such as, 鈥淗ow does the legacy of Indigenous culture reflect our society in Maryland?鈥� and 鈥淗ow can we build a better Baltimore?鈥�
鈥淪tudents deserve to have a deep understanding of their history and a deep understanding of themselves,鈥� said Lisa Ann Kim, the program manager for the curriculum. Learning about the city and the people who made it鈥攅specially those who share the same identities as students鈥攆osters their academic engagement, she said.
For now, the curriculum is a series of social studies units. But 鈥渋n the long term, we鈥檇 love to expand,鈥� Kim said.
鈥淲e want it to be sustainable, we want it to be able to outlive us, because this work is really important,鈥� she added. 鈥淚 have seen district initiatives that try to move too much, too quickly, too fast, and they end up burning out, especially if you don鈥檛 end up bringing people alongside with you.鈥�
Cultural responsiveness: a supplement, or part of the core?
In other cities, though, advocates say there鈥檚 also a danger in moving too slowly. Some district leaders, parents, and teachers say that it鈥檚 not enough to supplement core materials with add-ons that reflect students鈥� backgrounds and communities鈥攖hese pieces need to be woven through the main curriculum.
The argument cuts to a central tension for those who write curriculum: What鈥檚 the right balance between ensuring that students鈥� instructional experience reflects their own lives, and ensuring that it introduces them to a shared canon of knowledge?
As Steiner sees it, the right balance can be achieved by supplementing.
鈥淭he national curricula that are strong are very multicultural,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey explicitly contain texts from a very diverse group of authors, representing a wide range of geographies, ethnicities, races.鈥�
Beyond that 鈥渦niversal core of instruction,鈥� districts can supplement to reflect their student population and their area鈥檚 history鈥擝altimore would do this differently than, for example, San Antonio, he said.
Others disagree. Big curriculum companies like McGraw Hill or Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are trying to serve a national, and sometimes international, clientele, said Natasha Capers, the director of the NYC Coalition for Educational Justice, a group that has pushed for a culturally responsive curriculum in the city.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 trust Pearson to tell the story of how COVID devastated New York City, how it devastated Black and brown communities in New York City,鈥� said Capers, referring to an organization which used to have a large part of the U.S. curriculum market share. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 trust those big companies to tell that story. I trust us to tell that story.鈥�
It鈥檚 not that New York City students shouldn鈥檛 learn about literature and history from elsewhere in the country and the world, Capers added. It鈥檚 that these lessons should be grounded in an understanding of students鈥� lives, enabling them to make connections to topics that might be less familiar, they said.
New York City embarked on such a mission last year. Soon before he left office, former Mayor Bill DeBlasio announced plans to spend $202 million to create a universal ELA and math curriculum called Mosaic by fall 2023. Then- the materials would allow kids to 鈥渟ee themselves in the curriculum鈥� and 鈥渉onor the voices of our students and families.鈥�
Now, the Mosaic project faces an uncertain future under Mayor Eric Adams鈥� administration. Earlier this month, that the department had shelved plans for comprehensive math and ELA curricula, continuing instead with a scaled-back plan to develop collections of 鈥渉idden voices鈥� social studies resources centered on Asian American, LGBTQ, and Black histories. New York City Department of Education Press Secretary Nathaniel Styer said that 鈥渢he work continues鈥� on Mosaic, but would not confirm whether that work includes math or ELA materials.
The uncertainty around the project disappoints Andrea Castellano, a 3rd grade teacher in the city. 鈥淚f we relegate [culturally responsive and sustaining education] to the other subjects, it鈥檚 not going to get done as effectively,鈥� she said.
Getting buy-in and teacher use
Chicago provides a glimpse of what a homegrown curriculum across subjects can look like鈥攁nd why the work doesn鈥檛 stop once the materials have been published.
The city launched Skyline, its pre-K-12 curriculum, for the 2021-22 school year. The district spent $135 million in upfront costs creating the materials, partnering with more than a dozen curriculum and education companies and consulting groups. So far, 360 schools in the district have adopted the curriculum in at least one grade band, representing about 70 percent of all traditional public schools in the city. (No charter schools have adopted Skyline to date.)
As in New York City, one of the driving factors behind the curriculum project was cultural responsiveness, said Beck, the teaching and learning officer. Included are ELA lessons focused on reading and writing about Chicago鈥檚 past, present, and future, and science lessons that, for example, explore why an urban coyote population thrives in the city.
But it wasn鈥檛 the only factor. Creating something in-house also meant educators could develop other features to their specifications鈥攖hings like accessibility, or supports for English learners. 鈥淲e found a lot of different providers had bits and pieces, but not necessarily all of it,鈥� Beck said. In some cases, the district modified templates from curriculum company partners; in others, it worked with them to create something from scratch, Beck added.
A year into the rollout, the district鈥檚 focus is on professional development for teachers, and making revisions to the materials. Skyline was developed in collaboration with a group of more than 300 city teachers, and teacher feedback鈥攁nd soon, student feedback鈥攄rives the improvement process, Beck said.
Not every school is interested in adopting Skyline鈥攁nd that鈥檚 OK, Beck said. But the district isn鈥檛 letting schools choose whatever materials they want, either. Schools must adopt a curriculum that meets standards the city feels are important. It can adopt Skyline to meet those requirements, or make a case that what they鈥檙e using hits the same benchmarks.
Steiner, of Johns Hopkins, questions the decision to spend $135 million only to make the resulting curriculum voluntary. But Anderson, of ThirdWay, said that the costs of purchasing an off the shelf product, implementing it, and training teachers can add up quickly too.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not always cheaper to do it in-house, nor is it always more expensive. 鈥� The most important piece is being really clear-eyed about a three-year plan, and then accounting all the hidden costs to both,鈥� she said.
The end result should be that teachers have a quality resource so that they鈥檙e not scrounging for materials on their own. Whether it鈥檚 purchased or created matters less. 鈥淲e鈥檙e so far from that, that it鈥檚 got to be all of the above,鈥� she said.
