Scripted teaching

Scripted instruction refers to commercial reading programs that have highly structured lessons, often with specific time allotments for teaching specific skills, and often word-for-word scripts of what the teacher is to say. Scripted instruction has often been advocated for schools where teachers have had inadequate teacher training and is also seen as way to standardize the quality of instruction. Critics say that such programs stifle teachers’ creativity, undermine teachers’ expertise, and fail to provide for the diverse needs of many classrooms. Advocates see it as the easiest way to provide teachers with the essential elements of effective reading instruction. It has also been applied to preparation of lessons in many subject matter areas.

Scripted instruction has been an integral part of the direct instruction (DI) approach to education which has been presented as a structured alternative to the constructionist approaches to teaching such as discovery leaning.