Instructional Planning: Educators Respond as Districts Incorporate Scripted Curriculums

Many educators noted that their districts adopted “scripted curriculums.” Teachers shared that some of the curriculums require educators to abide by certain criteria including when to check-in and when to ask students questions. These sentiments were mostly negative: educators fear the move toward scripted instruction will prevent flexibility in their teaching.

  • “‘Teachers using the scripted curriculum must perform a check for understanding every four minutes or be reprimanded’. They’re making us do this at non-NES schools as well. District officials will be in our building on day 1 to make sure we are doing it.” —Teacher in Texas
  • “The two curriculums ccsd purchased for us are terrible.” —Educator in Nevada
    • “Sure would be nice if teachers had some discretion in them.” Educator, N/A
    • “We get to teach scripted curriculum like robots now” —Educator in Nevada
  • “Should we explicitly teach what the student needs, or should we explicitly teach what the scripted curriculum says all the students typically need in lesson 27?” —Educator, N/A
  • “We cannot be surprised when we treat teachers like commodities with scripted curriculum, scripted assessments, pacing guides, and procedures never to be altered when they choose to leave to explore autonomy & creativity, the same characteristics we used to search for in the best.” —Educator, N/A
  • “Meanwhile we’re getting hours training in…a very scripted curriculum” —Early Education Educator in Washington
    • “Ours looks like it was written as a script by someone who had a bunch of Post-it’s but kept leaving them in random places. So to make up for that they wrote lots of notes in other places. It’s like a scavenger hunt. What a hoot and a holler of a time for all.” —Teacher, N/A
  • “@HoustonISD uses a scripted curriculum now. Even though we have Canvas, we might not be able to use this resource if it’s not in the script. That’s why I’m checking with @HISD_Curric, which I’m hoping can offer guidance.” —Educator in Texas
    • “Can’t speak to that. I am sooooo sorry you have to do a scripted curriculum. I’d love to see the research on the effectiveness of that and the effect on teacher retention.” —Math Teacher in Kansas
  • “Teachers have to have the freedom to teach standards if this is to work. Following a scripted curriculum will reduce student generated essential questions to 5 minute timed writings.” —Teacher in Maryland
  • “Does anyone else find it suspicious that as soon as culturally responsive and anti-racist literacy was finally getting traction in education that systemic phonics (SOR) and scripted curriculum aligned to the SOR movement all of a sudden just blew up? It cannot be a coincidence.” —High School English Teacher in New York
  • “Just thinking out loud, but it’s disheartening to watch all this scripted literacy curriculum being pushed in NYC rather than creating more equitable opportunities for teachers to learn about all facets of literacy, becoming true teachers of reading.” —High School English Teacher in New York
    • “We also can’t ignore how scripted curriculum is almost exclusively pushed in “low performing schools,” which is just coded language for under-resourced schools full of Black, Brown and poor kids. Why aren’t any ‘high performing’ schools moving to scripted curriculums?” —High School English Teacher in New York
  • “If the scripted curriculum was good, that would be one thing. It’s almost harder when it’s ‘here, start with this (not very good lesson) then add to it as needed’  would be easier to just build the lessons yourself if there was time for that too.” —Teacher, N/A
  • “I am so concerned about starting a scripted math curriculum after over 3 decades of teaching math through play and art in my classroom… I am in constant prayer to be able to do both. Time is going to be a constraint. But Math Play and Art will continue.” —Elementary STEM Teacher in Texas
  • “Ooh, let’s speed this whole thing up and put kids on scripts, too! With students & adults both following the script as written we’ll have these kids matriculated and in the workforce by the time they get their permit! (Whose script? Who writes the script? Who plays their role?)” —High School Social Studies Teacher in Iowa
    • “I’m looking forward to PD on scripted curriculum by consultants who are selling their products.” —Early Education Educator in Washington
      • “The person who designs the script makes $90k so the person who delivers it in the classroom with students only has to be paid half as much.” —High School Social Studies Teacher in Iowa
  • “So I’m sitting in a PD and we get to curriculum and the speaker says ‘The days of teachers having to come up with ideas for curriculum is over’ because we’re going to scripted lessons… I-.” —Elementary Teacher in Missouri
  • “That’s why I’m concerned that we will have a scripted math curriculum… a new thing this year! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ Need to regroup and see how I can incorporate the wonderful STEM and art activities that help the students so much.” —Elementary STEM Teacher in Texas
    • “Scripts don’t work well in math. 24 years of teaching math have shown me the lessons have to flow like a river, wherever the curriculum & mistakes & misconceptions take it.” —High School STEM Teacher in Michigan