DIY math: Many high school teachers rewrite the curriculum

Many teachers are creating -- or downloading -- their own math materials, according to a recent survey, writes Hechinger's Jill Barshay.

Instead of basing lessons on "the textbooks, worksheets and digital materials that school leaders have spent a lot of time reviewing and selecting," many teachers -- especially at the high school level, are going it alone, says William Zahner of San Diego State.

Do-it-yourself materials can be hit or miss, sacrificing the “coherent development” of ideas that curriculum designers try to create, he says.

Some teachers put together their own materials to meet the needs of students who aren't fluent in English, while others say they need a more advanced or more basic curriculum.

Education reformers have neglected the importance of curriculum, argues Robert Pondiscio. If teachers had high-quality, content-rich instructional materials, they could focus on teaching, rather than spending their time and energy designing DIY lessons.

Nearly all teachers routinely use their own materials to teach English and math, he writes.

"Teachers spend seven hours per week searching for instructional resources and another five hours per week creating their own classroom materials," an MDR survey estimates.

But the materials teachers download are "mediocre" at best, concludes 2019 research.

"Spending hours on customizing curriculum or creating units and lessons from scratch is burdensome, results in lessons of low rigor and quality, and is almost certainly a less valuable use of teacher time than studying student work, giving feedback, developing subject matter expertise, and building relationships with students and their families," Pondiscio concludes.