This week, Reps. Hugh Blackwell, John Torbett, Jon Hardister, and Jeffrey Elmore filed House Bill 755: Academic Transparency. The bill would require teachers to post instructional materials used during the school year on a school website by July 1 of each year.
Why is this measure necessary? In my Carolina Journal article, “What are teachers teaching? We have no idea,” I discuss how little North Carolinians know about the “mind-boggling variation in instructional methods, tasks assigned to students, and tests used to determine their progress.” One solution that I outline in that article is to require teachers to outline their activities on a publicly accessible website. To ensure that the requirement does not interfere with the day-to-day activities of teachers, the deadline would be July 1. Moreover, it does not compel teachers to include minute details about the lessons delivered.
I commend Blackwell, Torbett, Hardister, and Elmore for recognizing the need for academic transparency and filing a bill to address it.
