“If your great new curriculum reads articles about penguins to the kids and your old stupid curriculum reads articles about walruses to them, one of these is going to look more successful when the kids are evaluated with a penguin test.”

Tim Shanahan, a literacy expert and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago, speaking about a study investigating the efficacy of a “Core Knowledge” curriculum. Core Knowledge is a curriculum based on the idea that children who know more facts tend to be able to read better. In the study, 20 schools were assigned to replace some “read aloud” time with units on plants, farming and Native Americans. The results found that the children who received the Core Knowledge lessons did better on tests of the topics and words taught in the lessons, compared to children who were not given the Core Knowledge lessons. (The Hechinger Report —Feb. 10, 2025)