Why CURATE?

Providing students and teachers with access to stronger curricular materials can be a powerful way to narrow opportunity gaps and accelerate student learning at scale. Yet Massachusetts school and district leaders say they often lack the time and information necessary to make well-informed decisions about curriculum. As a result, teachers are left scrambling to find good materials or develop them from scratch.

The CURATE project is DESE's response to this opportunity and need. Our goal is to make it easier for schools and districts to lay a foundation of great curricular materials in every classroom, so that teachers can focus on making those materials work for the students they know best.

What educators tell us

Our recent brief on curriculum research and policy included these key findings from surveys and interviews performed across the country:

Though teachers view all materials as imperfect, they generally want an adopted curriculum and use adopted curricula regularly.
Nearly all teachers supplement formally adopted materials, and teachers value this autonomy.
Districts feel prepared to evaluate curriculum materials, but say they would benefit from external evidence on quality.
Information on alignment to standards, impact on student outcomes, and cost-effectiveness is especially valuable for districts and is currently hard to gather.

We hear similar things here in Massachusetts. Teachers are spending hours each week looking online for materials or creating them from scratch, leaving less time than they would like for collaborating with colleagues, analyzing student work, and refining their practice. Meanwhile, one district administrator explains, "It would save me a tremendous amount of time if we knew that here are the top three curriculum resources or programs for this area that the state is recommending and DESE provides thorough background as to why and gives districts the opportunity to take that advice."

Last Updated: March 20, 2019