Exploring the Relationship Between Teachers and Curricula

In this edition of In Search of Research, I examine the relationship between teachers and curricula. This article begins with a definition of curriculum and a framework for thinking about different types of curriculum depending on the stage of the transformation of the material in textbooks into what students learn. Next, one lens by which the written curriculum has been investigated, cognitive demand, will be described. The factors that cause high demand tasks to remain at a high level when implemented as well as the factors that cause high demand tasks to decrease to a lower level when implemented will be discussed. Last, evidence will be presented linking cognitive demand to student achievement.