Cookie-Cutter Curricula

Although education tries to stress the importance of diversity, schools are continuously relying on “cookie-cutter curricula.” Why is this? One answer might be the state-wide tests that schools are held to. Usually this cookie-cutter curriculum teaches directly to the test and schools are using these to ensure that students pass. However, these worksheets that are being mass produced are failing most students. They leave very little room for creativity and they only want straight forward answers. What schools need to do is incorporate other methods of teaching. Schools need to diversify the curriculum so all students have a chance to learn in a way that is most effective for them. Some students may prosper with certain lessons and worksheets from these cookie-cutter curricula, however, many students, if not most, will benefit from different teaching methods. Many schools and teachers are worried that they won’t make the grade so that they fall back on these curricula that have been made to coincide with state-mandated tests. Teachers forget that if they are truly teaching the subject, their students will pass. For example, the unit in an English Language Arts class is poetry and a teacher uses a curriculum that is already pre-made and lacks creativity, if that teacher diversifies the curriculum by adding projects such as students creating their own poetry, the students will learn and most likely they will learn more than just a worksheet asking students to define literary terms and themes of a poem. Learning by doing has been proven to be an effective way of learning. If teachers use lessons like this, they shouldn’t be worried about their students failing the test.




There are a few positive aspects of cookie-cutter curricula. One aspect is that it reduces the amount of preparation time for teachers. However, this can also be negative because teachers aren’t putting in the time and effort into preparing lessons that will be effective for students. Teachers should take time to prepare their lessons plans because it shows students that they care and teachers know their students the best. The teacher knows the different learning styles and the different likes and dislikes and incorporating these into a lesson plan will prove to be effective. The makers of the cookie-cutter curricula don’t know our students so they should have the right to make lesson plans and activities for our students. Only teachers should be able to make lesson plans.