Let’s face facts: social media is a tough environment during election season. As spring primaries unfold, it’s easy to get caught up in divisive posts. My solution? Scroll past that noise and focus instead on the interesting “edunews.” When I do, it strikes me that more and more surveys, reports, and policy papers with compelling insights for curriculum advocates are rising to the top. And among them, one theme catches my eye: the importance of educators in all levels of development of quality materials and training.

Challenges in teacher engagement with quality classroom materials and instruction remain concerning. A recent survey fielded by Educators for Excellence and sponsored by NWEA offers insights from educators on this issue. According to NWEA, “Just one in three teachers say they have been involved in curriculum decision-making, and most have to spend valuable time creating or downloading materials outside of what their district or school has provided them.” 

Also on the subjects of time and quality, a recent piece in the Journal of Science Policy & Governance explores the uneven landscape of elementary science education across the country. The policy paper points out that, today, science instruction time for young students is 40% less than the generation before them – and that the science-specific focus aspiring teachers deserve is absent from most elementary certification programs. The authors argue for more time for explicit science learning as a complement to other core subjects: “High-quality science education will require integrating, not sacrificing, other content areas…This approach can add time for science, while enforcing math and language skills and leveraging students’ natural scientific strengths.” This echoes the spot-on, educator-focused advice from Jessica Henderson-Rockette of Instruction Partners in my recent post.

Turning to math, the National Center for Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has just published their 2022 review of Preparation for Teaching Elementary Mathematics. This deep dive into programs for aspiring elementary school math teachers explores the scope and quality of content and instruction at a time when students need strong math support more than ever. The review shows some promising trends across teacher prep providers but also plenty of room to grow, offering concrete recommendations for program leaders and state policymakers. The biggest takeaway for me?: “Build partnerships with nearby districts to create specific feedback loops related to elementary mathematics instruction, reviewing course materials and content expectations for teacher candidates to determine if the program is meeting districts’ needs.” The more we expand teachers’ knowledge of quality instruction and aligned training, the better empowered those teachers are to advocate for it within their local districts. 

And last but certainly never least, EdReports’ 2021 Annual Report highlights a number of impressive gains for the field and for states in evaluating and implementing instructional materials with proven results. This gold-standard organization has always placed educators at the center of materials review, and last year launched two important initiatives to deepen teacher engagement in their work. The New Jersey High-Quality Instructional Materials Ambassador Program engaged 11 educators to explore the research behind quality curriculum while flexing new leadership and advocacy muscles. And in partnership with the National Center for Teacher Residencies, EdReports began piloting work with three residency programs to deeply embed “curriculum literacy” skills into pre-service teacher preparation. Efforts like these place teachers at the forefront, where they belong.

So while it can be hard to avoid the constant barrage of political posts on primary returns these days, I’m staying focused on different results. Teacher leadership and empowerment in curriculum quality – now that’s worth tweeting about.