Improving curriculum would provide more reform for less money than anything else pushed by reformers, writes Robert Pondiscio of Core Knowledge. He cites Russ Whitehurst’s research showing teacher quality, early childhood education, charter schools and standards don’t provide the brains for the bucks of better curriculum.
“We conclude that the effect sizes for curriculum are larger, more certain, and less expensive than for the Obama-favored policy levers,” writes Whitehurst, the former director of the Institute of Education Sciences. He recommends the administration “integrate curriculum innovation and reform into its policy framework.”
The wonks went wild about Nicholas Kristof’s attack on teachers’ unions for protecting “inept and abusive teachers,” Pondiscio complains, while Whitehurst’s views got little notice.
