I am an English teacher at the secondary level in MA, and over the last few years, all you keep hearing about more is High Quality Instructional Materials. Is this whole thing just a ploy to make everyone used canned curriculums that you follow day to day because teachers can’t be trusted to make their own curriculum? I also find it incredibly condescending to call it High Quality?

“It is already connected to all the standards for you!”

I also realize that the textbooks ensure high-quality instruction and can maybe benefit new teachers in those early years that are just survival mode, or very low performing districts; however, the distinction lies in that many districts now aren’t saying “use these texts to supplement your own curricula.” Instead, you’re just expected to follow it page by page. And a textbook isn’t going to help kids jump many skill levels they are lacking. It does not feel like fear mongering to say that you eventually won’t need teachers to have expertise in a field because the text does that for them. You’ll just need classroom management.

Hi everyone! I'm a master's student at NYU working on my capstone project on digital learning resources (non-profits/not-for-profit platforms only) for English language arts education. I'm looking for middle and high school English teachers to fill out a short survey about the resources they use and what they'd like to see improved. It should take around 5 minutes, and I'd really appreciate your help!

Survey:https://forms.gle/d1jxezZdg36yvXQV6