Evaluating supplemental curricula with Morgan Polikoff

What this episode covers

A teacher is always on stage, 180 days a year, with a repeat audience. There is a constant need for lesson plans that are high quality, engaging, and aligned to standards. Today, most teachers turn to the internet to fill that need, and they now have a dizzying and growing array of online materials they can access. But shockingly little is known about the quality of those materials. In this episode, host Nat Malkus talks with Dr. Morgan Polikoff of the University of Southern California about his most recent report. Coauthored with educational consultant Jennifer Dean and published by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, it analyzes online supplemental materials for high school English language arts from three of the most popular supplemental websites. They discuss the report’s goals, findings, and implications for policy.