Curriculum

The books taught in secondary classrooms have largely not changed over the last 35 years, according to a new report from the National Council of Teachers of English. 

Even in the face of classroom censorship and uneven teacher autonomy and curriculum flexibility, the diversity of books taught has changed little since 1989, the study found, based on responses from 4,096 current secondary English language arts teachers in public schools.

Prior to the NCTE study, there were only two other large-scale national studies of literature used in secondary English classrooms, in 1964 and 1989. The current researchers found a greater difference in the books on the top 10 list from 1964 to 1989 than they did between 1989 and 2024.

According to the NCTE study, 90% of teachers somewhat or strongly agreed that diverse literature should be required for all students.

Diversity in literature matters because it makes reading more engaging and exposes students to realities beyond their own, said NCTE President Tonya Perry. Having diverse books in the classroom allows students to relate to what they read and puts some of the timeless themes of the classics into a more modern context, she said.

“If your books don't reflect diversity in experiences, and you don't have a chance to think more about today's world, then it doesn't challenge you to bring yourself to the table and think more about how you can impact your own world and other spaces,” said Perry.

Of the books on the top 10 list for 2024, these were also on the 1989 top 10:, “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Great Gatsby,” “Of Mice and Men,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Hamlet.” 

“Macbeth” appeared across all three lists.

The authors on the 1964 list were all White and all men except for Mary Ann Evans, who used the pen name George Eliot to hide her gender, the NCTE report noted. The 1989 list of books also came from White male authors aside from one White woman, Harper Lee. The 2024 list included one other woman author, Mary Shelley.

“I don't think that having texts that are older is something that we can't have in our classroom, but I do believe that having diverse texts in the classroom actually enhances our instruction,” said Perry. “Even if we have texts that are listed here, they could be paired with more modern texts to really bring students in, to get that kind of thinking that we want from our students.”

While the classics remain in the top 10 of most-taught books, 93% of teachers reported using diverse literature in their classrooms, and 91% said they wanted to use more diverse literature. 

According to the NCTE report, various factors could contribute to the enduring prominence of classic texts in secondary English language arts classrooms. For one, while teachers are reportedly using diverse, contemporary literature, the sheer range of options can lead to those titles appearing on the top 10 list less frequently.

The level of autonomy teachers have over their curriculum can also impact the diversity in their curriculum. About 1 in 5 teachers reported having no autonomy in their text selection, while another 1 in 5 said they had complete autonomy.

The report also noted that censorship is having an effect. Teachers mentioned 1,359 unique titles that their schools, districts or libraries have censored.

“To Kill a Mockingbird" is the only book that appeared on both the top 10 censored and top 10 taught books — it was the second most censored book but also the sixth most taught. Eight of the remaining nine books on the top 10 most frequently taught list also appeared in the censored book list. 

According to the survey, the four most mentioned sources of censorship were: parents, school boards, state law and the school district. Parents are a particularly influential part of the censorship process, the report said, as they were mentioned more than twice as often as state laws or school districts.

As educators grapple with being equipped to teach diverse texts and also deal with potential pushback, Perry emphasized the importance of continuous professional development opportunities.

She explained that professional development should prepare teachers to provide explanations and rationales to parents about why they are teaching specific books. Professional training should also help educators become more comfortable in teaching and advocating for diverse literature through conversations with other teachers.

Quantum physics education at the high school level is often limited, if offered at all. To bridge this knowledge gap, a program in Texas has made quality quantum physics instruction more accessible to students and educators alike. 

Quantum for All is a national pilot led by the University of Texas at Arlington. It wrapped up its fifth annual camp in June, welcoming new and returning students and educators to learn and explore hands-on quantum physics. 

While the program has far exceeded expectations according to its principal investigator, its future is uncertain since the nearly $1 million National Science Foundation grant that funded it ended this year.

According to physics educators, learning about quantum physics exposes students to careers and fields they might not have otherwise considered and also helps them develop critical thinking skills they can apply beyond the classroom.

“It's really important for our youth to have an appreciation for science, specifically quantum, and how it is applicable in their lives, how they can use it in the workforce, and what jobs they can get from it,” said Karen Matsler, Quantum for All principal investigator and a professor at UT Arlington. “We need to stay ahead of the pack when it comes to other countries and technology and security. We don't have a choice, in my opinion.”

The Quantum for All summer program serves around 40 teachers and 40 to 60 students in a typical year. Most of the students are in grades 9-10, and the teachers come not only from physics but other disciplines as well.

The first week of the two-week program is dedicated to professional learning, where teachers work through the quantum physics concepts and projects they will be teaching students the following week.

Students join the camp during the second week and educators work in small groups to co-present lessons. This helps split the workload and makes it less intimidating, Matsler explained. They're learning through watching other teachers and by watching the kids, she said.

Because of the prominence of quantum across several fields, teachers from different backgrounds such as art and math are encouraged to participate.

“The program gave me the opportunity to try these lessons in a low-risk environment, and also gave me hands-on lessons that weren't just math driven,” said Meghan DiBacco, an Advanced Placement physics teacher at Jordan High School in Texas. DiBacco added that the program helped her become a leader in her classroom.

To be mindful of educators' already heavy workload, Matsler focused on incorporating quantum physics education into curriculum areas that teachers are already covering. That way the professional learning helps them modify what they’re doing — not add to it.

The program’s format of professional learning followed by direct practice is what sets it apart from other professional learning resources, said Jaime Govea, the physics lead at Mesquite High School. Govea, who is participating in the program for a second year, said it provides a much needed resource for educators like him who otherwise had little guidance on how to meet state standards for science.

“I think what Dr. Matsler’s program has done is fill in the gaps that the state has left behind,” said Govea.

The program doesn't just forge confident teachers but also confident students, points out Robin Griffith-Yates, associate principal of the STEM Academy at Arlington’s James Martin High School, which hosted the camp. Her favorite part of the program, she said, is the open house on the last day where parents see the projects students have been working on.

Griffith-Yates said students are as excited to share what they’ve learned with their parents as their parents are to get a glimpse of what their child has been working on. She noted that students become more confident in their knowledge and can easily explain topics in quantum that had intimidated them at the beginning of the week.

“In order to teach something like this, bringing it to something that students use every day and are familiar with, I think, really does help to build that confidence and build that knowledge so that they are willing to try it and talk about it,” said Griffith-Yates.

Matsler said she and her team will start looking for private and philanthropic funders in hopes to continue the program next summer.

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By FlexPoint

As the Senior Manager of Curriculum Development at FlexPoint, my goal is to develop a variety of Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses that help students discover their passions. Through courses like Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity Essentials, Microeconomics, and more, we help students discover jobs they may have never considered and develop their technical and soft skills.

To help school administrators develop a long-term strategy for CTE, I’ve put together three tips to ensure decisions are driven by what employers want to see paired with what students are excited about for years to come.

3 Ways to Enhance Career and Technical Education Offerings:

1. Provide Opportunities to Gain Employability Skills and Industry Certifications

With fewer students interested in completing a four-year degree and high-demand, high-wage job opportunities being more readily available, it’s important that educators provide a way for students to not only learn the technical skills needed in jobs but also teach students the value of employability skills.

A great place to start is the U.S. Department of Education’s Employability Skills Framework, which includes three overarching skill categories for employability - applied knowledge, effective relationships, and workplace skills. The best way to ensure your students are grasping these skills is through different assignments, quizzes, and more.

In addition to employability skills, CTE courses can prepare students for industry certifications. They’re valuable to employers because they verify a job candidate’s technical skillset - giving your students a leg up when applying for jobs! An example of this would be students obtaining the Python or Java certification upon completing a Computer Science Principles program of study and then getting a job in programming.

2. Partner with Career and Technical Student Organizations

Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) are an integral component of curriculum and instruction, building upon career and employability skills and concepts. CTSOs give students the opportunity to apply concepts they’ve learned through hands-on demonstrations and real-life and/or work experiences.

Examples of CTSOs include:

• Business Professionals of America
• DECA (formerly Distributive Education Clubs of America)
• FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America)

3. Refine and Expand Your CTE Course Catalog

Just like the employment landscape changes, so do your students’ interests, which is why it’s critical to refine your CTE offerings each year. The top three questions to ask yourself every year include:

1. How has your student population changed over the past year?
2. What employability skills are employers most looking for in the next three years?
3. Over the next five years, what are the top three to five occupations for your county/state?

Once you answer these foundational questions, you can start looking at the CTE courses you currently offer. For example, if you’re a rural school or district and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is estimating an increase in agriculture jobs over the next five years - do you have a program of study related to agriculture? If not, it may be time to start investing in that program of study.

To help school and district leaders like you take your CTE program to the next level, our team developed a free guide. Visit www.FlexPointEducation.com/CTEGuide to download the free guide.

From charter schools to voucher-fueled private school options, Indiana’s Hamilton Southeastern High School faces a lot of competition for student enrollment.

And with that in mind, school leaders wanted a way to get the good-news message about their school out to the community.

It was important, as families weighed their choices, “to have a much better handle on what information was actually being accurately portrayed to our community about us” and about “what daily life was like in our school,” said David Young, chair of the school’s language arts department.

Addressing the need for better school messaging, Young and other Hamilton Southeastern leaders shared how the 3,450-student high school built a public relations and sports media class during a July 11 session at UNITED, The National Conference on School Leadership.

The class is part of the school’s broader, student-led Southeastern Media Network. The network, which began in the 2023-24 school year, also includes classes on broadcasting, online news and yearbook. 

It’s still too early to know if the program will translate into increased student enrollment at Hamilton Southeastern High School, Young said, but that is a key metric the school will be watching for.

Tapping into students’ interest in PR

Student interest in the PR class has boomed, with enrollment jumping from 10 to 150 in the first two years, said Bill DeLisle, the media network's PR and media advisor. In this course, students learn to tell the stories of their clients, who can be a local organization or the school itself, he said.

The goal, DeLisle told K-12 Dive, is not to have students “overhype things that are going on” in the school and “not to necessarily make things look better than they are, but rather, just to surface stories that are happening — with intentionality and regularity.”

Students help run the school’s Instagram account and often cover school events, such as musical performances or sports events. 

“We’re not here just to make the sports teams look good. We still have to report on the fact that you lost,” Young said. “It’s still coverage that we’re doing.”

To enroll in the PR class, students must take one prerequisite in either sports journalism, journalism or digital media, said Young, who is also the broadcast and newsroom advisor for the school’s media network. But students are highly encouraged to actually take two of those classes before they sign up for PR, he said.

Those classes help students understand core concepts such as media law, copyright and unbiased reporting, Young said. Then, students can choose if they want to enroll in other tracks within the school’s media network. 

Tapping into student interest in communications was important for the school as well as the students, since it lacks the resources or technical capacity to communicate all that goes on there, said Associate Principal Stacey Brown at the principals conference. 

The PR class includes four roles students can take on: 

• An executive director who manages the team. 
• A lead who communicates with clients and coordinates with the PR staff. 
• An assistant lead who stands in for the lead if he or she is out. 
• The "creatives," who make up the bulk of the team by taking photos, creating social media videos and developing graphics. 

Through these roles, DeLisle said, the PR course has helped students gain valuable skills in both communications and leadership.

Offering students real-world experiences

Through the Southeastern Media Network, students are gaining real-world experience as they create work for public viewing, DeLisle said.

“I don’t think kids don’t want to be at school. I do think they want to do work that feels like it matters,” DeLisle said. “When you can activate students into their own learning and into their own personal development, it makes an impact.”

Using his own professional background in PR, DeLisle created a framework for a student-run in-house public relations agency that includes:

• Research and competitor analysis. Students work to understand what’s happening with their client – be it the school or a local organization. For example, they might explore: What courses are being offered? What events are taking place? At the same time, students analyze other local schools’ communication strategies to learn ways to improve their own.
• Client onboarding meeting. Students meet with clients — such as administrators, club leaders, coaches or athletic directors — in a professional setting equipped with their research and competitor analysis. In those meetings, students try to uncover stories they weren’t aware of before but could be shared.
• Team debrief and planning. Students use all the information collected from their research and client meetings to plan their coverage and storytelling strategy. 
• Production and delivery/publication. This step is PR in action, where students create and publish content through Southeastern Media Network’s accounts to reach their audiences. 

School leaders are still exploring ways to offer students work-based learning or dual enrollment credits. The school, for instance, is in talks with Indiana University Bloomington and Ball State University for possible dual credit opportunities in media classes, Young said. 

Brown said the school recognizes the PR class is an “incredible resource that is essentially free to us,” so it’s important to not overburden students and to be intentional with their time.  

“We have students doing really high-caliber work that they aren’t paid for,” Brown said. “We like to think that they’re compensated through [high school] credit and experience.”

By the end of the course, students have a portfolio of work and give a final formal presentation on what they’ve done for their clients, Young said. 

Do public schools violate parents’ religious freedom when exposing students to books on gender and sexuality without notifying parents or allowing them to opt their children out? The Supreme Court’s answer was — as is often the case: It depends. 

The high court's 6-3 decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor was released on the final day of its term in June, and the 41-page majority opinion — which was a win for religious parents wanting to opt their children out of LGBTQ+ material — left education policy experts with more questions. 

The high-profile case arose after Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools walked back its decision to grant opt-outs to parents for a new LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum rolled out in elementary schools. The district’s school board rescinded the opt-out policy less than a year after the curriculum went into effect in 2022-23, due to what it called "unworkable burdens" that came with an influx of parents' requests. 

After the 4th circuit and a district court ruled in favor of Montgomery County schools, the high court in June overruled those decisions, saying, "the practice of educating one’s children in one’s religious beliefs, like all religious acts and practices, receives a generous measure of constitutional protection.”

Here’s what the ruling means for schools.

Most districts may not have to change much — for now

The Supreme Court’s decision granted a preliminary injunction previously denied by the lower courts, temporarily allowing MCPS parents to excuse their children from instruction related to LGBTQ+ storybooks while the lawsuit proceeds in the lower courts. 

That means it doesn't apply to other school districts — for now. 

"The handwriting is on the wall," said Michael Rebell, a law and educational policy professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College. "If you have a policy that's very, very similar to what was going on in Mahmoud, I think you'd be wise to change it.” 

Maryland's largest school district put LGBTQ+-inclusive books among other titles on classroom shelves for elementary children to choose from when learning language arts skills. Some of those titles included: “Intersection Allies,” “Prince & Knight,” “Love, Violet,” “Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope,” and “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding.” These books, Justice Samuel Alito said in the majority opinion, "suggest that it is hurtful, and perhaps even hateful, to hold the view that gender is inextricably bound with biological sex.” 

However, in her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the majority opinion should not result in schools pulling books from classroom shelves. Rather, the injunction applies to using the books as part of classroom instruction. 

"The line the Court drew seems bright: If schools use contested materials instructionally — especially in ways that make exposure unavoidable — parents have a right to know and a right to say no," said Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at American Enterprise Institute, in an analysis of the decision.

The case — or another like it — may work its way back up to the Supreme Court

As the case goes back to the lower courts for a decision, it may eventually reappear on the Supreme Court's docket and give more clarity to districts on what kinds of opt-out policies they should craft through a broader decision, said education lawyers.

"It was a fact-intensive analysis of this particular case that unfortunately gives some guidance to schools going forward but leaves a lot of questions unanswered to be hashed out in the future, in lawsuits or in other ways," said Sarah Konsky, professor and director of the Jenner & Block Supreme Court and Appellate Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School. Konsky's clinic represents parties in Supreme Court and appellate cases. "This will be a continuing discussion and likely source of litigation in the coming years."

If this specific case doesn't work its way back to the Supreme Court, it's likely that another will, said Konsky. 

Overall, the issue of parental rights is part of a much broader reckoning in the nation over First Amendment rights and will likely resurface in some capacity that districts should look out for, education lawyers agreed. 

What should districts' policies look like? 

While the decision should give districts pause on their own policies, exactly how they should — or shouldn't be — reconfigured isn't exactly set in stone. The age groups and subjects that warrant opt-outs was not spelled out in the Supreme Court’s decision. 

In the meantime, "the case leaves us with a bottom line that if a school policy is substantially interfering with the religious development of a child in a public school, that that is likely going to pose First Amendment problems," said Konsky. 

Districts, she said, may take into account multiple factors when setting these policies, including what counts as "substantial interference," the nature of the educational requirement or curriculum, and the age of the child. The majority opinion says that educational requirements targeted toward very young children may be analyzed differently from educational requirements for high school students, for example. 

Topics like sexuality are likely to trigger more religious objections, and presenting them in one particular course or period of the day may make opt-outs and advance notice more logistically practical for schools, said Sonja Trainor, executive director of the National School Attorneys Association. 

Schools should also think about how they will ask parents to articulate their request, how accommodations are discussed, and how to provide notice to parents with approved opt-out requests.

Pondiscio's analysis shows that although opt-outs are likely unnecessary in situations when a student is checking out a library book independently from the school library, Mahmoud leaves open the question of whether placing an LGBTQ+-inclusive book on the classroom shelf for students to choose from during a lesson requires opt-outs. 

"The classroom library didn’t build itself," he said. "Teachers or other school district personnel chose what went on those shelves. And students made their selections during instructional time, under adult supervision, as part of a structured literacy program. In other words, 'We didn’t assign it' may not be much of a defense."

Districts avoiding MCPS' situation should prepare to engage with parents

Schools should be engaging with parents to accommodate them and collaborate as they set curriculum and opt-out policies, said Konsky — especially because the Supreme Court seemed concerned in MCPS' case that there was not an effort to work with parents.

"It would be wise to be thinking about that at the outset, before a lawsuit," and begin engaging with board members and other stakeholders about how to accommodate religious differences in the curriculum, said Konsky. "If schools are aware of this decision and are thinking ahead of time about how and to what extent they're able to accommodate student opt out requests, they'll be ahead of the curve as these issues are playing out." 

Overall, school attorneys are warning that the case will likely lead to more parental requests that schools provide notice, opt-outs or both. 

"The gap between how courts think 'curriculum' works and how it’s actually implemented in elementary classrooms is vast," said Pondiscio. "And that means schools will likely keep finding themselves on the receiving end of angry phone calls — and possibly lawsuits — from parents blindsided by what their children bring home in their backpacks." 

SEATTLE — In 2024, nearly half — 48% — of Oregon’s 4th graders scored below basic in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. 

Not only is that 7 percentage points worse than the national average, but 48% represented a significant jump from pre-pandemic levels in 2019, when 36% of Oregon’s 4th graders tested below basic for reading. 

The state's latest reading scores are “disgraceful” and “unacceptable,” said Darcy Soto, director of learning acceleration at Portland Public Schools.

But unlike for the state at large, the Portland district has seen an increase — albeit a slight one of 1% — in reading scores since the pandemic, said Karla Hudson, program administrator for the district’s learning acceleration team. Still, Portland's progress has been slow and incremental, she said, and less than 60% of the district’s students are proficient in reading.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Hudson said, which is why the 43,500-student district has zeroed in on providing high-impact tutoring.

Joined by Stanford University’s Nancy Waymack, Soto and Hudson shared what Portland has learned from its efforts during a July 12 session at UNITED, the National Conference on School Leadership.

High-impact tutoring is a data-driven service that is embedded into the school day and uses consistent, well-supported tutors, said Waymack, director of research, partnerships and policy for Stanford University’s National Student Support Accelerator. The tutors use high-quality instructional materials and hold sessions at least three times a week in small groups of no more than four students, she said. 

While teachers can be successful tutors, Waymack said, so too can community members like college students and retirees. Regardless, it’s important that students be able to build a relationship with their tutors, she said. 

Data also plays a valuable role in tracking student progress throughout the tutoring, Waymack said. When tutoring occurs during school hours or shortly before or after class time, she said, research shows students are far more likely to attend sessions. 

Years in the making

Portland began its early literacy tutoring program through a small after-school pilot initiative in 2021-22 at a few elementary schools for students in grades 3-5, said Soto. The pilot started to show “some really great outcomes,” she said, allowing the district to expand the program from 6 to 20 schools by the 2022-23 school year.

During those first two years, teachers were trained on the curriculum and paid for extended hours to tutor after school and. While that approach did improve students’ reading skills, Soto said, “it was very expensive” given teacher pay and the small student group size. This made the pilot difficult to scale to other schools.

As the tutoring program continued into the 2023-24 school year, the district began shifting to a more cost-effective model — especially as federal pandemic relief funds were sunsetting, Soto said. 

By the 2024-25 school year, Soto said, the district used some of its last remaining Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds to partner with the Oregon Department of Education and Oregon State University to develop a free K-3 tutoring curriculum aligned with structured literacy instruction. 

After successfully piloting the new curriculum in summer 2024, the district launched a $1.2 million program across 50 of its 58 elementary schools to serve over 1,200 students in 2024-25, Soto said. The program hired 152 tutors — mostly paraprofessionals — and was embedded during school hours during 30-minute blocks that didn’t interfere with core instruction. 

Outcomes and what’s next

Portland attributes recorded a wide range of student outcomes to the tutoring program. One school saw an average growth of 91% on post-tutoring assessments, while another grew on average by just 18%, according to Soto. 

The tutoring outcome data so far is "interesting and complex,” Soto said, but it still shows that the program is working. 

However, as the district faces declining enrollment and big budget cuts, it has sought partnerships to keep it going, Hudson said. As a result, most tutoring for the 2025-26 school year will run through a community-based partner known as Reading Results with some in-house support and also a new AI literacy tutoring tool.

A majority of the funding will come from the district’s education foundation via a one-year, $1 million grant, Hudson said. The remaining funds will be from the state’s early literacy grant and a private foundation. 

When the tutoring program gets underway in the new school year, Soto said her team will continue collecting feedback and data from participants. Sharing success stories, she noted, will help secure funding for the program’s future. 

It also will be important to keep adjusting the model’s funding and structure as the district’s budget and capacity shift, Soto said.

Compton High School in California is debuting a new campus with a novel approach to classroom instruction: Instead of having their own traditional classrooms, teachers will use shared learning studios for instruction. 

Each learning studio will be fully equipped with movable furniture, projection screens, assisted hearing devices, a Chromebook cart with 30-35 devices, and interactive display boards.

While not having a dedicated classroom has been the reality for “floating teachers” nationwide due to space limitations in some school buildings, the creation of the learning studios at Compton High School stems from a $225 million effort to modernize the school and explore technological improvements, according to Principal Larry Natividad.

According to the National Education Association, classrooms play an integral part in creating a safe and inviting learning environment for students. While the learning studio approach essentially functions similarly to college classrooms, it raises some concerns about providing high school students with the stability and relationship-building opportunities needed for that age group.

To help make up for some of that potential loss, NEA recommends offering teachers training on how to build connections with students instead of simply walking in, teaching and leaving.

Compton Unified School District leaders and architects worked together to develop the idea of learning studios as part of a new approach to public education, Natividad said. 

He said the approach aims to foster more collaboration and community building among teachers. When educators are not teaching a class, they will work with colleagues to plan and share ideas in collaboration rooms based on grade level or subject area.

“We want to get away from the idea that teachers are private practitioners. Rather, we're part of a community," Natividad said. "Right now, a teacher could conceivably be isolated and really working in a silo. By doing this, we break the silos, and we're actually building communities of practice.” 

If teachers need a private space to talk to a parent or to do some tutoring, he said, they can utilize one of the individual conference rooms or study session rooms that will also be available.

Natividad added that another benefit to the learning studios model is that teachers can set up the room in whichever way best suits that day's class. The movable furniture lends itself to reconfiguring the spaces as needed, whether that be for small groups or large classes. 

However, the walls of the learning studios — including some that are retractable so a room can be as big or small as needed — are untraditionally bare. Natividad said that the school is holding off on hanging items on the walls until it better understands the spaces. 

He noted that finding a balance between maintaining the school's fresh, new look while including effective teaching practices that truly support student learning, is key.

Natividad said the general reaction to the learning studios from teachers has been a mix of excitement and caution. School administrators, he added, are committed to working closely with both staff and the teachers union to ensure all voices are heard, especially when it comes to establishing professional expectations. 

To support this effort, the school has established committees made up of teachers and staff to help develop systems that promote a positive school culture.