Replicable Curriculum

REPLICABLE CURRICULUM
A replicable curriculum consists of teaching materials and procedures that are utilized by more than one teacher, in essentially the same way, with more than one group of students. Replicable curricula are the first fundamental ingredients of research-based instruction. If we can't replicate a curriculum, how can we improve it?

One demonstrates that a curriculum is replicable by showing two things:

That the curriculum, and its associated teacher training, insure that teachers really do follow basically the same procedures all the time.
That the curriculum has orderly and reproducible effects on successive groups of students.

If we can demonstrate these two things, then we have laid the foundation for rational quality control, and cumulative improvement of instruction.

On the one hand, successful replication requires more guidance for the teacher than is provided by the typical textbook and teacher's guide. On the other hand, successful replication does not require slavish, robot-like following of a teaching "script." Rather, successful replication requires devotion to a special image of teaching, where instead of operating independently, teachers work together to insure consistent good practice.

Sustained, replicable curricula are rarely found, because they have to be developed from inside a school. When university professors, or educational laboratories, persuade schools to offer themselves as research and development sites, it doesn't seem to work. The curricula do not sustain themselves after the researcher leaves. To develop sustained, replicable curricula, the school itself must be committed to educational research as a way of life. There aren't many research schools. There should be more.