[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-590429-105":59,"doc-detail-590429-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","taken-for-granted-why-curriculum-content-is-like-oxygen","Taken for Granted - Why Curriculum Content Is Like Oxygen","","A persuasive education article argues that school improvement discussions often overlook curriculum content, treating it as background like oxygen. The writing contrasts commonly cited factors such as great teachers and supportive parents with the precise, necessary precondition of what students are taught daily. It explains how neglecting curriculum reduces coherent, cumulative cross-curricular experiences, while standards without curriculum discussion cannot reliably raise proficiency. The piece supports its case by citing curriculum research and policy debates.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/taken-for-granted-why-curriculum-content-is-like-oxygen/590429/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/taken-for-granted-why-curriculum-content-is-like-oxygen/590429.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Pentious","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-19","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does the article compare curriculum content to, and why?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It compares curriculum content to oxygen because it is a necessary precondition for life in the same way curriculum is necessary for making a school strong.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why does the article say educators sometimes lose opportunities when they take curriculum for granted?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"When curriculum content is assumed rather than examined, educators fail to coordinate and collaborate, and students miss coherent, cumulative cross-curricular learning.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does the article explain the relationship between standards, curricula, and student proficiency?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It argues that lacking discussion about curriculum prevents standards regimes from achieving their goal, since there is a direct link between student achievement and what students have been taught.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},590429,1792172459,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},1374404730887,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Taken for Granted  \nWhy Curriculum Content Is Like Oxygen  \nBy Carolyn Gosse and Lisa Hansel  \nW  \nhen asked what matters most in life, it’s easy to quickly answer family and friends. It’s loved ones we  \ncare about most, so the answer is appropriate—but is it entirely accurate? Of course not. 􀀝e precise answer, which noone wants to hear, begins with oxygen.  \nLife is full of such social conventions. Many are bene􀀞cial (at least for easing communication), and most are harmless. But sometimes the “appropriate” answer goes unexamined for too long. Sometimes an accurate answer is needed. We see a parallel situation in discussions of school improvement. Whether in casual conversations or even in serious debates, there seems to be ade facto, appropriate answer as to what matters most in creating a good school: great teachers and supportive parents. Not that these things are unimportant; just like family and friends, they are essential. But is there amore accurate answer, one that, like oxygen, is taken for granted? We contend that there is: the content of the curriculum, the specific knowledge and skills taught each day.  \nExperience tells us that curriculum is glossed over in di erent ways by educatorsand policy leaders.  \nFor educators, the content of the curricu-  \nCarolyn Gosse is the Core Knowledge Foundation’s lead developer of CKLA Preschool. She received her PhD in Language and Literacy Development and Disorders from the University of Virginia, where she worked on a research project evaluating the e􀀝ectiveness of a preschool curriculum designed to enhance young children’s language and literacy skills. Lisa Hansel is the communications director for the Core Knowledge Foundation. Previously, she was the editor of American Educator. Portions of this article are adapted with permission from “What Really Matters Most?”by Lisa Hansel, which was published on the CUNY Institute for Education Policy blog, IdeaLab, at [http://ciep.hunter.cuny](http://ciep.hunter.cuny). edu/really-matters.  \nlum really is like oxygen. Teaching is always about something, and that something has to be speci􀀞ed before any other decisions can be made. That’s so obvious that it’s assumed, prompting educators to jump to other factors in thinking about what’s essentialto a great school. Don’t get us wrong: the curriculum doesn’t make a school great all by itself anymore than oxygen alone makes us live. Both are merely necessary preconditions. Yet while it is possible to 􀀞nd a struggling school with a great curriculum, 􀀞ndinga good school with a weak curriculum isabout as likely as finding a human being who can live without oxygen. Regrettably, when educators take the content of the curriculum for granted, they lose opportunities  \nto coordinate and collaborate. Students maybe learning something valuable in each grade or course, but they do not receive the bene􀀞ts of a coherent, cumulative, crosscurricular experience.  \nMany leaders in education policy, on the other hand, seem to have no idea that curriculum matters. Some don’t even realize that standards and curricula are not the same thing. Theoretically, we could blame the educators for not explaining to the policy  \nAll of the images shown within this article come from the Core Knowledge Language Arts Preschool program. The program contains seven units; each unit has its own teacher guide, four of which are shown below.  \nAMERICAN EDUCATOR | SUMMER 2014 19  \nmakers that curriculum is like oxygen—but in the real world we can’t. In an era of“100 percent pro􀀞cientor else,”what sane educators would encourage policymakers to“improve” their oxygen? Teachers realize, after all, that their evaluations are increasingly tied to student scores on high-stakes tests. As a result, they are reluctant—and rightfully so—to invite policymakers to o er what are likely tobe similarly 􀀉awedsuggestions about what the curriculum for each grade level should look like.  \npreschool, and state standards. Conclusion:“Curriculum e ect","cbCairwO8NUMVdT7","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairwO8NUMVdT7","pdf",992976,11,"English","# Taken for Granted - Why Curriculum Content Is Like Oxygen\n## The oxygen analogy and why curriculum is essential\n## Risks of treating curriculum as assumed\n## Policy confusion and the limits of standards alone\n## Evidence from research on curriculum effects","[{\"question\":\"What does the article compare curriculum content to, and why?\",\"answer\":\"It compares curriculum content to oxygen because it is a necessary precondition for life in the same way curriculum is necessary for making a school strong.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the article say educators sometimes lose opportunities when they take curriculum for granted?\",\"answer\":\"When curriculum content is assumed rather than examined, educators fail to coordinate and collaborate, and students miss coherent, cumulative cross-curricular learning.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article explain the relationship between standards, curricula, and student proficiency?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that lacking discussion about curriculum prevents standards regimes from achieving their goal, since there is a direct link between student achievement and what students have been taught.\"}]","Taken for Granted - Why Curriculum Content Is Like Oxygen | PDF",1792069614,28]