Robert Marzano (2003) argues that 35 years of educational research have actually
culminated in an exciting time for educational reform, as the research continues to
point to the same evidence. Culling the years of research, Marzano makes the case
that one of the most important factors in student success in school is a guaranteed
and viable curriculum - a curriculum that provides each student with the opportunity
to learn (guaranteed) and provides adequate time to do so (viability). The first
action step for schools is to explicitly articulate what content is considered essential
for all students, and in order to make it viable, Marzano argues, that content needs
to be pared down from the long lists of state standards that have shaped classrooms
as teachers have been forced to go for "coverage" over learning.