Should teachers customize their lessons or just stick to the ‘script’? 

Some educators say district-provided curricula aren’t culturally relevant and don’t serve student needs. Experts fret about too much drift from standards

It’s a Sunday in June, and high school history teacher Chris Dier is poring over readings, lesson plans and other resources to put together next year’s curriculum for his Advanced Placement U.S. and World History classes. 

School doesn’t start until mid-August. But Dier, Louisiana’s teacher of the year in 2020, has followed this same routine for years. He spends part of his Sundays throughout the school year and summer preparing lessons for his classes. In his 14 years of teaching, Dier said he has never really had a curriculum provided by his school district that he can use without making significant adaptations. In fall 2020, he started teaching at Benjamin Franklin High School, in New Orleans, a top-performing charter school that doesn’t offer teachers any curriculum or materials.