Guest Opinion: How to get curriculum transparency right for teachers
by Christine Cooke Fairbanks
According to a newly released Sutherland Institute-Y2 Analytics survey, a majority of likely voters in Utah say it is important that instructional materials and curriculum for Utahâs K-12 students be accessible to parents and the public. In fact, most respondents support rewarding teachers for making their curriculum transparent. Fewer support mandating transparency from educators.
Two factors are key to addressing the hurdles educators face: (1) understanding and pursuing transparency methods that benefit teachers, students and parents alike, and (2) rewarding teachers for making the responsible choice to be proactively transparent about instructional materials, assignments and assessments.
Many advocates of curriculum transparency high-center on the opportunity to identify inappropriate materials and prevent teachers from teaching politically charged material in the classroom. As illustrated by some documented instances of teaching gone highly political, this is a legitimate concern for parents and a useful benefit of transparency.
However, many additional â potentially more significant â benefits from curriculum transparency for parents, students and teachers are too often left out of the discussion.
There is rarely a detailed policy that fits every state, district or school. But understanding, promoting and pursuing the benefits of curriculum transparency through prudently designed state and local policy reforms can benefit educators, parents and students alike.
Based on their reported policy opinions, Utah voters seem to intuitively grasp this reality. Utah policymakers and education leaders should too. (Read More)
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Most likely voters in Utah strongly support curriculum transparency policies in public schools, a recent survey from Sutherland Institute and Y2 Analytics finds. Respondents shared their views about three different approaches for implementing curriculum transparency: requiring schools to share grade curriculum with parents, rewarding teachers for sharing lesson plans with parents, and requiring teachers to share lesson plans with parents. (Read More)
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