As a high school teacher I have taught Physics using "traditional
texts", PSSC, Harvard Project, back to "traditional", and now
"conceptual." I've been "inserviced" in TESA, 4MAT, ccoperative
learning, "authentic" assessment, etc.
I'm thoroughly convinced that the greatest group on government welfare
is the Educational Research community.
What appears (to my humble brain) to happen every time a new model is
introduced is the Pygmalion effect. The evangelists convinced us that
this new method will keep every student awake in our class every minute
and we so badly want to believe it that it happens, for a few years. And
then the new Holy Grail appears and we become true believers again.
We all know that there is not a single approach that will work for every
student in our class. If we could teach one-on-one and tailor our
teaching method to each individual student then we might be very, very
successful. But with a class of 36 with a range of gifted to
main-streamed special ed we can't do it. (Note: this is not a whine)
Suggestion: take all the money on educational research away from the
research community and using it lower class size.
I've stopped looking for the perfect curriculum and will settle for a
good fantasy.